A Perilous Choice
by SoonTheApocalypse
Summary: Weeks after being forced to flee the motel at the hands of the bandits, Lee and his companions find themselves lost and desperate in the wilderness. But what will happen when catastrophe strikes, and Lee is forced to make a terrible choice? Will he be willing to sacrifice his friends' lives to protect what he loves most? Or will he risk it all for a better outcome? You decide...
1. The Prelude

**Soon:** Hello! Here comes that "Soon" creature, back again, with more words and stuff for you to peruse at your leisure. For those of you who didn't read my very first upload on here - welcome, and to those of you who did - welcome back!

Now for a brief interlude from my main story, as I take the time out to post my newest TWDG project on here. Unlike Salvation Lost, this is completely new material which I have only recently written (well, in the last six months or so, anyway). I basically plan on alternating between re-typing Salvation Lost, and also typing up other things as well (some new, some old), in order to try and keep my interest levels fresh and sharp. If I just sat down and focused solely on Salvation Lost to begin with, then I'm fairly sure that I'd fall into a state of complete boredom and lethargy - re-typing such a long, meandering story isn't exactly my idea of fun, y'know? So, I came up with _this _little beauty to try and maintain my creative spark for this whole writing malarkey.

As for the story itself, well, you'll notice that there's no Introduction chapter this time? Well, that's because this is only going to be a short story - five chapters, to be exact. It isn't going to be your _everyday_ short-story, however. This is going to be a "choose your own ending" type of thing, where a decision that you, as the reader, make towards the end of the second chapter will determine how your own personal story ends. In other words, you might say that this story is tailored by how you play. Hehehe. ;P

Chapter 1 (this one, in other words) is going to be the set-up, Chapter 2 is going to feature the actual choice itself, Chapters 3 &amp; 4 will feature the two main outcomes of said choice, and the final chapter will demonstrate what will happen if you refuse to make a choice at all, as well as featuring my author's notes to wrap the whole thing up.

I'm genuinely interested to see what the results of this are gonna be. I think I'm going to call it ... a social experiment. I'm actually quite eager to see how everyone will interpret the upcoming choice, but I shan't be spoiling what it is just yet. Maybe you can have a guess at what it might be after you've read the chapter below, hmm?

The cast of this story will be similar to that of Salvation Lost (season 1 characters, in other words), with several notable absentees, and one _extremely _notable addition - Ben Paul. Yay! Who doesn't love a bit of Ben, right? I was looking forward to adding him into the fold for this one, and I certainly didn't disappoint myself. :D

The cast is: Lee, Clementine, Kenny, Lilly, Carley &amp; Ben. Some of the most popular and/or influential characters from the first season of the game, in other words.

The story will branch off from the main plot of season 1, as it's set in a universe where the group have been chased out of the motor inn by the bandits, _before _being discovered by the St. John brothers and getting tricked into going to their now-infamous dairy farm. So, Larry and Mark are still very much alive at this point in time, despite not featuring in the actual story itself. Okay? Got it? Good.

Let's get this thing underway, shall we?

* * *

**Prologue**:

Having fled the fallen Motor Inn together and headed north, the group eventually made their way into the dense mountain forests of northern Georgia. Ambushed by a horde of wandering walkers as the sun began to set in the sky, the ten survivors were reluctantly separated during the resulting furore. Katjaa and Duck were whisked away into the trees by Larry and Mark, leaving Lee, Kenny, Lilly, Carley, Ben and Clementine with no choice but to dart off in the opposite direction. Lost and bewildered by their unfamiliar surroundings, the remaining six group members take a brief pause to re-evaluate their options. Lee informs his weary comrades that he has visited this area once before, many years ago, having stayed a "special" hotel resort with his wife, while they were touring America on their honeymoon. Believing that the mountain getaway is their best possible chance of finding somewhere safe to haul up for the night, the not-so-merry band set off to track down the elusive hotel - the growling moans of the dead, and the gnawing concern for their missing loved ones bearing down upon them all, as the few remaining hours of daylight relentlessly tick away…

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Prelude**

A male walker - his hair long, blonde, and matted with disgusting clumps of dried blood and flesh - continues to stumble through the trees, peering blearily around for the source of his next meal. The rattling noise of the air trapped inside his lungs carries off into the afternoon air, but no creature seems to be stirring. A sudden clicking noise catches his attention, and a sharp turn of his rotten head reveals a squirrel, sitting on a felled tree trunk some five metres away, voraciously nibbling on an acorn it had picked up from the littered forest floor. With a strangled cry of longing, the walker makes a beeline straight for the tiny critter, clumsily extending an arm towards his prey, as he threatens to trip and fall on every twig and pebble lining his path. The squirrel, alerted to the presence of danger, takes the precious nut in its teeth and hastily scurries up a nearby tree, climbing far beyond the reach of the reanimated corpse.

Groaning in apparent disappointment, the walker allows his decomposing arm to fall harmlessly back to his side. He turns slothfully on the spot, perhaps searching for another, less speedy, victim to feast upon. It is then that a hard, blunt object collides abruptly with the back of his head, as the butt of a rifle sinks deep into his skull, fracturing the bone with a sickening crack.

Lilly steps out from the shadows of a nearby bush, from which she had launched her sneak attack (a specialty of hers), her jaw set and her body tense, a look of revulsion mingling with the grim determination already present on her face. Twisting her neck ever so slightly to one side until it cracks, she watches on with cold indifference, as the flattened walker begins to push himself up from where he lay, turning his head this way and that, clearly dazed and confused by the sudden, unforeseen blow to the head. An impatient noise, similar to a, "Tch", escapes Lilly's throat, as she clutches her rifle firmly in both hands, before delivering a second controlled blow to the left side of the monster's head … then a third … and then finally a forth, violently smashing his already fractured skull to bits. With his brain tissue penetrated - a walker's one and only weak spot - the creature collapses back onto the floor with a final, gurgling moan.

A small sigh of relief passes Lilly's lips, as the immense tension in her body begins to ease up at last. She motions over her shoulder with her right hand, calling out in a remarkably composed voice for someone who had just forcibly crushed a skull to pieces, "You can come out. It's dead."

Her fellows seemed to materialise from within the nearby trees and bushes, just as Lilly herself had done, and began to approach her from behind. She bends down to clutch at a handful of the fallen leaves at her feet, picking them up and using them to haphazardly wipe away some of the ooze and filth caked on to the butt of her bloodied rifle. As she does so, she notices that some of the blood spray from the walker's brain had also splattered onto both her jeans and her jacket. With an irritated growl, she takes a moment to briefly scan her surroundings again, looking for something she may be able to use to clean herself up with … or perhaps just looking for a suitable object to kick and vent her frustrations on ... one or the other.

"…We're bumpin' int'a more an' more o' those things by the minute", muttered Kenny darkly, glancing down at the tattered remains of the walker beside Lilly's boots. "We're sittin' ducks out here!"

His own choice of phrasing then seemed to strike a sudden chord and, after an abrupt pause, Kenny's face seemed to collapse in upon itself, crumpling under the weight of his own anxiety and sadness. Perhaps the term "ducks" had not been the smartest thing for him to say at that particular moment.

Taking a second to stare at Kenny and let his sympathies with the man sink in, Lee then turns to the others, uttering his agreement with the Floridian, "Yeah, we _really _need to get a move on now. It's gettin' dark out."

"You think I don't know that?!" came Lilly's tetchy response from the base of a nearby tree, which she was now crouched beside, apparently busying herself with searching through the clutter of leaves and twigs at the foot of the trunk.

"Er … Lilly? What are you doin'?" asked Lee slowly, as though fearing for the woman's sanity.

"What do you _think _I'm doing, Lee?" snapped Lilly impatiently, before going on to immediately answer her own question. "I'm trying to find the stick that I set down earlier. That will tell us which direction we should be heading in next, since I'm _pretty _sure we've been past this tree-", she patted the trunk with her right hand. "-several times already."

"So we've bin goin' round in _circles_ for the last few hours?" said Kenny incredulously. "_Great_."

"Arrrgh", growled Lilly as she straightened up, her frustration blatantly reaching peak levels now. "I can't find it anywhere! One of those bastards must have kicked it into the undergrowth or something, because I know for a _fact _that the one I picked out was far too heavy for the wind to blow it away."

"Fascinating", Carley mumbled under her breath with a subtle roll of her eyes, causing Clementine, who was stood beside her, to shoot her a frightened glance - after all, the last thing that they needed right now was for anyone to rile Lilly up even further. Ever since they had been forced to abandon the Motor Inn several weeks ago, Lilly had been growing increasingly quick-tempered with them all, as they had trudged across the walker-infested countryside together. And since they had been forcibly separated from her father and the other surviving group members, several hours ago now, Lilly had been nothing short of a live wire, liable to spark into life at slightest misplaced comment.

"So, what do we do now?" Carley continued, as she turned to the others.

"M-Maybe we could carve a mark into a tree or something?" suggested Ben, peering nervously around at his fellows.

"One more stupid suggestion like that and I'll carve a mark into your _face _instead!" Lilly threatened menacingly, her rage bubbling over, as it so often did these days. Ben recoiled so badly at this that you would have been forgiven for thinking that Lilly had drawn a sword on him, which caused Carley to fire a fresh scowl in Lilly's direction.

"Hey, leave him alone, will you? I happen to think that was actually a pretty _good _idea. Why _can't _we just leave a mark on a tree?"

"Because, Carley, we don't even have a fucking _knife_", said Lilly through gritted teeth. "And in case it's escaped your attention, my dad and Mark are currently in possession of the axe as well."

"Well, we can just use the butt of the rifle to make an indentation instead", shrugged Carley dismissively.

"And draw every walker within a 500-yard radius directly to us? Yeah. _Great plan_, genius", Lilly scoffed, her right hand now resting on her hip. "Besides, it'd take too long to make a distinctive enough looking dent in the bark, and we're running out of time here."

"Look, all this bitchin' an' whinin' ain't gettin' us anywhere", said Kenny wearily, stepping forward as Carley continued to frown in Lilly's direction, clearly trying to muster up her next retort. "The last thing we need right now is more bullshit ideas. What we _need _is decisive action."

"What do you think I've been _trying _to do?" spat Lilly angrily, throwing up her hands in exasperation. However, Lee briefly raised his right hand before Kenny could respond, attempting to forestall another argument in the process.

"Okay. What d'you suggest?" he said, turning to Kenny, with a mixture of curiosity and desperation plastered across his face.

"Look there", said Kenny, nodding towards a gap in the trees ahead of them, where a large, rocky outcrop dominated the line of vision. "That thing's big enough that we'd be able to see ev'rything in the area, if we climbed it."

They all turned to look towards the great mass of rock as Kenny continued, "You wanna know what _I _suggest? Well, I suggest we climb to the top o' that plateau over there, have a quick scope o' the terrain, find out where we're headed, an' then get to gettin' there before we lose what little light we have left. _That's _what I think we should do. Should'a done it hours ago, in fact. But our _leader _over here-", he indicated towards Lilly with a slight sneer on his face, "-wanted to play Jungle Jane an' go traipsin' aimlessly through the woods instead."

Lilly's eyes narrowed, and a familiar fire seemed to erupt within them - never a positive omen. "Are you kidding me, Kenny? That is one of the _worst _things that we could do right now." She rounded suddenly on the others, causing a few (mainly Ben) to jump backwards in alarm. "Look, it's almost nightfall as it is. Do you guys _really _wanna go hiking up to some godforsaken hilltop - _in the dark _\- and then be forced to make an even _more _treacherous descent _if_ or when we find out where we're headed? Because I don't. That is literally at the _bottom _of my priority list right now."

"Well, what's the alternative?" Kenny asked her, sneering again.

"We keep going on as we have been", said Lilly, and when her words were predictably met with tuts and grumbles from many of her fellows, she added angrily, "No, _listen _to me! Lee, you said that we're definitely in the general area of that couples' retreat, right?"

"Shouldn't be more than a mile or two from here, yeah", Lee confirmed, frowning slightly in concentration. "What's your point?"

"My _point _is that we've already combed this area pretty thoroughly, so we've gotta be close to finding this place by now", Lilly explained hurriedly, a slight note of desperation now present in her voice, as she continued to fight against the tide of approval that Kenny's idea seemed to have created. "All we need to do is work out which directions we haven't tried yet and keep searching until we find it. We could be there within _twenty minutes_, if we strike it lucky and guess correctly on our first try!"

"You've had yer chance, Lilly", said Kenny flatly, folding his arms and staring her down in a slightly smug fashion. "We trusted your "expertise" an' look where it's got us - _nowhere_. As usual."

"It's called a process of elimination, Kenny", spat Lilly, her temper steadily rising by the second. "We establish a point and then gradually work our way outwards in circular pattern. _Logic_, in other words. Though I'll understand if that's a foreign concept to you", she added mockingly. Kenny unfolded his arms and bared his teeth at her, but she ploughed on before he could stop her, "If you'd come up with this _brilliant _idea a few hours ago, then _maybe _I'd have considered it - although it still would have been a stupid risk to take, even in broad daylight - but now? You can forget it. It's _too dangerous_."

"Well, if we'd jus' hurry the _fuck up _an' get goin', instead of listenin' to you _rantin'_ on, then _maybe_ we'd be able to get there before the sun goes down. You ever consider that, Lilly?"

"And what if we get cornered by walkers once we're up there, huh? They're everywhere, Kenny! We'd be lined up like a fucking _buffet_ for those freaks! Once again - _in the dark_. Is that really something that you wanna be dealing with, Kenny?"

"Hehe! Are you even_ listenin'_ to yerself anymore? They ain't some master hunters who're gunna follow our footprints an' track us down. They're a bunch'a brain dead morons!"

"That doesn't mean that they won't-"

"Alright, enough!" said Lee firmly, finally losing his patience with the both of them.

"What do _you _think, Lee?" Kenny demanded, turning towards his companion. "You're on my side with this one, right?"

"I should hope not", muttered Lilly snidely. "Not if he's got any sense, anyway."

"I said enough!" Lee repeated, stepping forward to have his say at last. "Look, you both bring up good points, but this constant fighting is getting us nowhere, so how about we take a vote on it?"

Lilly rolled her eyes impatiently, uttering a simple, "Fine", as Lee turned towards Carley first.

"I go wherever you go", she said with a smile.

"Me, too!" said Clementine happily, piping up for the first time.

Lee smiled at both of them, then turned towards Ben instead, who was shuffling his feet awkwardly. "Well, I think it would be best if we-", he began to say, before glancing sheepishly towards Kenny and Lilly. The former had his arms folded again, and was giving Ben a dubious kind of look with one eyebrow raised, as though he was certain that whatever was about to spill out of Ben's mouth was bound to be asinine. Lilly was looking daggers at him from behind Kenny's back, and her glare was so fierce that Ben was honestly starting to fear that she may begin to breathe _fire_ at him if he dared to side against her. "O-On second thoughts, I-I'll leave the decision up to Lee. Whatever he decides to do is good with me."

"…Great. Thanks for your input, Ben", Lee muttered sarcastically, releasing an exasperated sigh while gently rubbing the back of his neck. It seemed that the inevitable had resurfaced once again. He always seemed to end up being the deciding vote in these constant battles waged between Lilly and Kenny. Just once, he wished that someone else would step up and take some of the responsibility from his shoulders for a change.

"Looks like you're the swing vote, Lee", Kenny pointed out with a knowing grin, clearly confident, now that the ball was in Lee's caught, that he was going to emerge from this debate victorious.

Lee crossed his arms, thinking. He was all too aware that they were fighting against the clock in _either _scenario, and so there was an element of panic to the hastily assembled rationale that his mind was currently forming for him. Although there were pros and cons to both sides (as was so often the case where Kenny &amp; Lilly were concerned), it seemed to him that Lilly's methods were not guaranteed of producing any immediate results - they certainly hadn't so far - whereas Kenny's plan, if it worked, at least had a more concrete chance of getting them where they needed to be … although, it also carried a much greater risk. Either way was a gamble. The question was, whose gamble was he prepared to back? It all rested on him, after all…

"…I think that we should give Kenny's idea a go", Lee decided finally, unfolding his arms and addressing the group once more. "See where it gets us…"

"(Hopefully not dead)", whispered a small voice in the back of his head.

Kenny smiled in triumph, and heartily patted Lee on the back, clearly delighted to have his friend on side again. "Good on ya, pal! I knew you'd see sense eventually."

Lee flashed a swift smile in Kenny's direction, but his gaze sought out Lilly. He found that her eyes were already locked onto his and, although her leer was firm, she didn't seem to be too angry with him. She also didn't appear to be remotely surprised by the outcome of the group vote. No, she looked more _disappointed_ with him than anything, which made his insides clench a little with guilt. He just hoped that he'd made the right call.

Lilly strapped the rifle she'd been holding onto her back, then turned and set off towards their towering destination, without so much as a backwards glance at her comrades. "You guys better get your asses in gear if we're gonna make it there before nightfall", she called out, the bitterness clear in her tone, despite her best attempts to mask it. "_Move it_."

"…You heard the lady", Lee murmured with a helpless sigh. He didn't really know what to say to Lilly during times like these.

"Roger that", said Carley wearily, taking out her gun to double-check that it was loaded and in good working order.

"O-Okay", Ben mumbled shakily, straightening the straps of the bag of supplies that he was carrying on his back.

"You ready to move, Clem?" said Lee tenderly, peering benignly down at the girl as she approached him.

"Y-Yes", stammered Clementine, not quite meeting Lee's eye as he offered her his hand. Nevertheless, she took it in hers, and began to walk with him as the pair of them brought up the rear, the rest of the group having already traipsed off after Lilly by this point. "Lee…?" she uttered quietly, after they had walked a short distance in silence.

"Yeah?"

"What - What if Lilly's right? What if the walkers corner us when we're up on that big rock?" She looked up at him worriedly, clearly seeking reassurance.

Lee hadn't really given this outcome much thought, if he was being completely honest with himself. Like Kenny, he thought that the chances of a large mass of walkers following them all the way up there were extremely - perhaps even _insignificantly _\- small. He was more worried about the prospect of potentially having to make the descent in the dark … assuming that they could even make it to the top in one piece, of course.

"Try not to worry about it, Clementine. If anything happens, I'll protect you", said Lee after a moment's pause, applying a small amount of pressure to her hand in the process, hoping that it might ease some of her fears. She reciprocated the act, her gentle touch becoming firmer against his own palm.

"…Promise?" she asked him timidly, her eyes wide and watchful.

"Promise", was Lee's swift response, said with as much sincerity as he could muster at such short notice. It seemed to have done the trick, however. Clementine beamed up at him, pulling herself slightly closer to him as they walked, still intently gripping his left hand with her right. Lee's eyes seemed to shine with pride as he looked down at the girl - she had almost become something equivalent to his own _daughter_ at this stage, and he had told himself, time and again, that he would do everything in his power to protect her. He only hoped that he'd be able to keep that promise he had made to himself, which wasn't always easy … with the world the way it was these days.

Picking up the pace slightly, in order to catch up with Ben &amp; Carley - Lee, Clementine, and the rest of the group, gradually made their way towards the foot of the immense rocky structure, the groans of the undead echoing into the night all around them.

* * *

**Soon**: Ohohoho~! And so it begins. That's the set-up chapter well and truly out of the way.

Oh, what's that? Some of you wanted to agree with Lilly instead? You didn't want the group to go on a late-evening mountain hike at all? ... Well, _too bad_. You don't have any say in the matter just yet. Your part will come at the end of the _next_ chapter. I mean, isn't this the way that TWDG always goes? You're never allowed to _prevent _shit from going down, you usually just have to try and pick up the pieces afterwards, and attempt to make the best of a bad situation. It's not like you were allowed to agree with Lilly when she (rather sensibly, in my opinion) wanted to leave the dairy farm in the game, is it? No, you weren't. You were forced to scope out a bandit camp and then go and snoop around in the barn with Kenny instead. Well, I'm just following in the game's footsteps here. So ... you can blame Telltale, not me. :P

Besides, Kenny's idea seems pretty solid, don't you think? I mean, what could _possibly _go wrong here, right? *evil grin*

And on that subject, what do you guys think the actual choice is gonna be? I'm sure that reading the chapter (as well as the story description itself) will allow some of you to get somewhat close with your guesses, but I'm more wondering if any of you will actually be able to hit the nail directly on the head, so to speak. I guess we'll see... Feel free to post your theories in the review section, as you'll likely only have twenty-four hours or so to discover whether or not you're right (or wrong) on this.

I won't be including my "Soonian Analysis" section for this story, either. I mean, there's definitely plenty that I could say/point out about the chapter you've just read (as well as the ones to follow), but ... eh, it's just not really worth the effort, for a short story like this. At least in my opinion.

You guys want a Skit? ... What? You didn't think I'd post this without giving you one, did ya? Rahaha! Here you are...

* * *

**Skit 1 (Lord Squirrelton of the Northern Wood)**

**Lord Squirrelton**: *scurries up a tree* … "Back! Back, foul creature! You shan't be claiming my acorn, _nor_ my life, this day!"

**Lilly**: *appears from the shadows and bashes the walker's brains in*

**Lord Squirrelton**: "Ho! What's all this? Who is this fair maiden, who hath appeared so suddenly before me, felling that blonde-haired, decaying monstrosity, and thus saving my life?"

**Lilly**: "You can come out. It's dead."

**Lord Squirrelton**: "Such _composure _in the face of danger. This woman is clearly a gilded knight from lands far beyond the sun's reach. I must pay tribute to her tremendous valour! I shall deliver her this acorn, as a token of my heartfelt gratitude for her heroic endeavours!"

*he hastily scurries back down the tree*

**Lord Squirrelton**: "Good evening, m'lady! A warm welcome to both you and your _charming_ companions! Allow me to introduce myself - I am Lord Squirrelton, Master of the Great Oak Trees and Keeper of the Peace, here, in the Northern Wood."

**Lilly**: *does a double-take as the squirrel approaches her*

**Clementine**: *gasp* … "That squirrel is talking!"

**Kenny**: "Don't be silly, Clem. Squirrels can't talk."

**Lilly**: "Ssh! You'll scare it away!"

**Lord Squirrelton**: "Thank you _so_ much for slaying that _beastly_ abomination earlier. Your skills on the battlefield are _truly_ a sight to behold! Please allow me to present you with this hallowed acorn, as a reward for your courageous-"

**Lilly**: *shoots Lord Squirrelton in the chest*

**Lord Squirrelton**: "-Ack! B-But … _Why_, m'lady?" *dies*

**Lilly**: "Awesome. Well, that's my dinner taken care of, at least."

**Clementine**: "Lilly! Why d'you always have to _shoot_ everything?! He seemed so cute and friendly, too…" :'(

**Lilly**: *shrugs*

**Kenny**: "So, this is what it's come to now? That we have to start livin' off of _squirrels_?"

**Carley**: "Yuck… I think I'll pass."

**Lee**: "Yeah. Me, too. Not a very appetising thought, is it?"

**Lilly**: "You won't be saying that later on, when you're all starving by the campfire. Meanwhile, I'll be sitting a short distance away, too busy munching on my squirrel to care."

**Kenny**: "Hey, now! I didn't say I didn't want any…"

**Lilly**: "Well, tough. You can go and catch your own dinner if you're gonna have an attitude about it."

**Kenny**: "Yeah? Well, guess what, princess? We ain't even stoppin' to _make _a campfire, so you're just gonna have to eat ya little supper there _raw_."

**Ben**: "W-Well, she could always cook it by using her fire breath. R-Right, Lilly?"

**Lilly**: "Exactly. I'll just use my … wait, _what_?"

* * *

**Soon**: Let us all share a moment's silence, if you will, for the passing of Lord Basel Squirrelton, the noblest and wisest of all the squirrels in the forest... You will be missed, old friend.

...

Ah, well. A girl's gotta eat, right?

Chapter 2 should be posted tomorrow, accompanied by the _dreaded choice_. Let me hear from you, people! I wanna know if you guys are excited for this kind of story or not, you see?


	2. The Choice

**Soon**: Aw, no one made any guesses, did they? Oh, well...

* * *

**Reply to ZombieSlayer995: **I'd settle for "above average", honestly, but "very good" works, too. ;P And yes, the _dreaded choice (*lightning strike*) _is coming up right now.

* * *

**Reply to leafs nation: **Funny you should say that, because "thesaurus" happens to be my middle name - Soon The Thesaurus Apocalypse, don't you know? Pleased to meet your acquaintance. Haha!

Anyway, it's strange that you should compliment me on my writing vocabulary, as I actually consider that to be comfortably the weakest aspect of my work. I'd probably only rate myself about a 5 or 6 out of 10 on that side of things. Still, I suppose it's all relative, isn't it? It really depends on who you're comparing me to, at the end of the day. As for the detail and descriptiveness, this is actually me _toning it down_, believe it or not. You should have seen my writing when I was a teenager, _then _I'd show you detail, hehe. After all, I didn't really give much in the way of descriptions for the character's current physical conditions, did I? Nor the general layout of their current location. Now _that _would have been detailed. ;)

"Are you sure you don't work for Telltale?" - I used to, but they kicked me out for being a walking thesaurus. They don't take too kindly to animate books in that part of the world ... prejudice bastards. I tried to sue for unfair dismissal, but the courts were having none of it... *sigh*

"Pride Rock"? ... I laughed, not gonna lie. XD You're not far off, in truth, but this rock is a fair bit larger than the one you're thinking of. Consider more a mini-mountain, and then you should be right on the money.

Anyway, if this really is Pride Rock, does that mean that whoever gets to the top and roars across the landscape first is now considered the Royal Monarch of the Pride Lands? ... If so, then my money's on Lilly. All hail the Queen!

"Hmph... I guess that's just life though, isn't it?" ... That's deep, bruh.

* * *

**Reply to DarkStar35: **Interesting use of the term "shitbird". Hopefully you're not friends with any of the other authors on here, or else they may come after you in a lynch mob after reading that. :P

And wow - one of your favourite stories? After only the set-up chapter? Thanks a lot. If you really liked the exposition chapter that much then be sure to stick around, as there's _much _better than that to come, I can promise you.

* * *

**Soon**: Anyway, let's get back on track, shall we?

Here comes the big one~! Are you all ready for this? Well, you better be, because you're gonna be expected to make a crucial decision by the time this chapter is done. You better get your thinking caps at the ready, peeps. Just remember - keep calm and don't panic. Hehe.

* * *

**Chapter 2****: The Choice**

Lilly reached the top first, climbing nimbly onto the flat platform of rock that marked the summit of the plateau. She was panting, but only slightly, and significantly less than Kenny, who had clambered up after directly her. "Don't bother helpin' me up, then", muttered Kenny irritably, but Lilly ignored him. Wary eyes darted around for signs of danger, but nothing living (or indeed, dead) appeared to be moving in the immediate vicinity.

Next up came Lee, who, after casting a quick glance at their surroundings, turned to help Clementine up, then Ben (who almost succeeded in pulling Lee back down to the level below by accident), and finally Carley, who was now bringing up the rear. Carley smiled warmly as Lee pulled her towards him, then set off to exploring the ledge with the others. Ben was awkwardly trying to adjust the straps of the bag digging into his shoulders, and was now obviously feeling the strain of having been forced to carry it for so long. Lee had to give credit where it was due, however, as he had not started belly-aching about it … yet.

Lee patted Clementine on the head as she brushed some dust from her clothing, saying softly, "Come on, sweat pea", to her as he did so.

"S-So, what do we do now?" asked Ben nervously, still fiddling with the straps of his bag.

"We spread out across the ledge an' try an' see if we can make out some kinda structure down in the forest", said Kenny confidently, turning from one face to another. "Lee said that the place we're lookin' for is the only buildin' in the area, so … it shouldn't be too hard to find."

"I dunno, man", muttered Lee uncertainly. "It's kinda dark up here now that the sun's gone down."

Lilly narrowed her eyes at this, but said nothing, turning to stare moodily in the opposite direction instead.

"Well then, we better get a move on", replied Kenny placidly, rotating on the spot, as he tried to decide which direction he ought to start looking in first.

"I'll take the north side", said Carley.

"Awright, good. I'll take the next space along from you, then", Kenny confirmed with a smile, apparently grateful that Carley, at least, seemed to be buying into the plan.

"I'll look over here!" squeaked Clementine happily, hurrying off towards the southern side of the plateau.

"Cl-Clem, wait a minute!" called Lee worriedly. "Don't just go runnin' off by yourself-"

"It's okay. I'll watch her", came Lilly's voice from his immediate right, her tone slightly frosty, as she stalked past him and headed off after Clementine. He could tell that she was still unhappy with him for siding with Kenny's plan in the first place, but he also recognised that her offer to look after Clementine was a show of solidarity, which he greatly appreciated … given the circumstances.

"Thank you", he murmured gratefully. Lilly glanced back at him, and for a split second he almost thought that he saw her flash him a smile. The next second he was wondering whether or not he'd imagined it, however, as she was back to wearing her more familiar deadpan expression again. He sighed. Truthfully, he was beginning to question whether or not he'd made the right choice in dragging them all up here. In fact, he'd been dwelling on that thought ever since he'd made the decision. He would never be able to live with himself if one of them got hurt up here … and he knew for sure that Lilly would never let him forgot it, either.

"Having second thoughts?" whispered Carley's voice in his other ear. Sure enough, she had been watching him carefully.

"…Yeah, a little bit", Lee admitted ruefully. "I jus' can't shake the feeling that something bad's gonna happen…"

"Well, no matter what happens, you know I'll support you." She reached up to touch Lee's face gently with her right hand. "You did what you thought was best, and that's all that anybody can ask of you. True, some people may not _like_ it-", her eyes drifted briefly in Lilly's direction. "-but you can't expect to please everyone all the time."

Lee took a moment to digest what she was saying to him, noting her encouraging smile as he did so. "Thanks, Carley", he said finally, his troubled expression clearing somewhat. "That means a-"

"She's right, ya know", Kenny interrupted loudly from his right, causing Lee to jump a little in alarm - he had not realised that Kenny was eavesdropping on their conversation. "What's done is done. Far as I'm concerned, you made the right choice, in the moment."

Lee turned to look at Kenny, whose moustache had twitched upwards in the form of a lop-sided smile. "It's you an' me, pal", said Kenny earnestly, his chest seeming to swell with emotion as he said it. "It's bin that way from the very beginnin', right?"

Kenny extended his left fist forwards, which caught Lee slightly by surprise. After a few moments pause, Lee sent his right fist out to bump into Kenny's, returning the man's smile as he said, "Yeah. Yeah, I guess it has…"

"An' that's the way it gunna stay, too", Kenny motioned, pointing a firm finger in Lee's direction to let him know that the matter was closed. "Now le's get on with findin' this little _love nest_, shall we?"

With a hearty chuckle, Kenny turned to stride off towards the north-eastern side of the ledge, now with a slight spring in his step, having reaffirmed his bond with his friend. Lee shook his head slowly as he watched him go. "I really do worry about that man sometimes", he muttered under his breath.

"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on him for you", Carley sighed. "Make sure that he doesn't do anything _too _reckless, you know?"

"Heh. Yeah. Good idea", said Lee appreciatively, as Carley wandered off after Kenny.

Lee twisted his upper torso to peer around him, wondering which direction _he _ought to start looking in. He figured that he and Ben should probably handle the eastern side, since both the northern and southern edges were now covered, and they had already thoroughly scanned the western side while climbing, but … he noticed that the view of the east was largely obstructed by several large boulders, along with the few crooked trees that were growing amongst them. Clambering over that lot wasn't going to be an easy task. Typical, Lee thought, that he would be the one left to navigate the trickiest vantage point … with Ben for company, no less.

It was only then that he noticed the bizarre mound of rocks which were collected a few metres to the right of the spot where they'd first climbed up. He took a few steps towards it, frowning. It looked like some kind of old-fashioned monument - the kind of burial ritual that people used to give to celebrated soldiers or warriors who had fallen in combat. He racked his brains to try and think of any historical battles that may have taken place in this area, but this burial site (if that's indeed what it was) seemed to be extremely old - well over a hundred years or more, looking at the state of the many rocks that were piled there. The handle of some kind of weapon, possibly a spear, was also sticking out from between the rocks. The weapon of a long-deceased war hero, perhaps?

Normally, Lee would have loved to examine something like this further, but he knew that they had other priorities to focus on right now.

He noticed that Ben was also showing an interest in the mound, which brought a slight smile to his lips. None of the others seemed to have paid much attention to the monument (Lilly and Clementine had merely glanced at it as they went by), but perhaps Ben was keen on history as well? He momentarily thought of his students back at the university, but promptly stopped himself, as he felt the familiar pangs of sadness and regret tugging at his heart. He tore himself back to reality and muttered, "Come on, kid. We've got work to do", to Ben, as he determinedly turned his back on the burial site, and headed off towards the opposite side of the ledge.

"_Whooooa_", came Clementine's awe-struck voice from a short distance away. "We're _so _high up…"

"Not too close to the edge, Clem, okay?" said Lilly's voice immediately afterwards, her tone slightly softer than it usually was, but still firm.

"It's fine, Lilly, I'm not gonna fall", Clementine consoled her patiently. "It's just kinda hard to see from up here. I've gotta lean out a little bit so I can try and make stuff ou - Oooh, I think I've found it!" Her sudden exclamation made everyone look around. "I think I've found it, look! Is that it?" Clementine continued excitably.

A few moments passed in silence, as all of them waited with baited breath. Then they heard Lilly say flatly, "…No. No, I'm pretty sure that's just another cluster of rocks, Clem."

"…Oh. Hehehe! Oops."

Lee shook his head, smiling, then set to climbing to the top of the boulder pile, from where he _hoped _to get a good lay of the landscape. He slipped slightly as he made his ascent, but managed to clutch onto one of the crooked little trees as he fell, hoisting himself back up in the process. He looked back to see if Ben was following him, only to find that the teen was still standing over by that ancient memorial.

"Hey, kid! You helpin' us look for this place or not?" Lee shouted over his shoulder, his voice a little harsher than he'd intended, as he struggled to maintain his grip on the tree.

"Y-Yeah", Ben called back, without looking at him. "I'll be there in a minute."

He seemed to be momentarily mesmerised by the mound of rocks for some reason. Even Lee himself hadn't found it _that _captivating. When Ben stood gawking at the burial site for a further few seconds, Lee merely rolled his eyes and continued to climb. Some help Ben had turned out to be … as usual, he thought snidely.

"So, Lee", Kenny called out suddenly. "This place we're goin' - is it any good?"

"It's pretty fancy, yeah", Lee grunted, still busying himself with trying to clamber over the many boulders in his way. "If it's still in good shape, then it'll definitely have plenty o' safe places for us to hunker down for th' night."

"…And you said that you went there with your wife?" prompted Carley curiously, though there was a pointed tenderness to her question. She knew only too well that talking to Lee about his wife was always a sore subject.

"…Yeah", said Lee, after an awkward pause. "We spent a couple o' nights there on our honeymoon. It was pretty fun … you know, for what it was."

"Sounds swanky", quipped Kenny, with a telling grin.

"God, I wish one of my _bonehead_ exes would've taken me somewhere like that every once in a while", said Carley, not bothering to conceal the jealousy in her voice. "I mean, I went to do a report at a place like that once, but … it's not really the same as going there for leisure purposes, you know?"

"Well, I don't imagine we'll be gettin' much pleasure out of our stay this time, that's for sure", panted Lee, having finally reached the top of the boulder pile. He clutched onto the tree that was rooted there, while he attempted to catch his breath.

Carley smiled at him, her eyes twinkling slightly. Apparently, she had other ideas in mind. Then she glanced over to the opposite side of the ledge. She seemed to ponder something for a second or two, then she called out, "How about you, Lilly? You ever been taken to a place like that before?"

A few seconds of tense silence passed yet again, perhaps because Lilly was silently debating whether or not to dignify that question with a response. Eventually, she seemed to decide that it _was_ worthy of a reply, as she gave a long-overdue snort and said, "No. I'd hope that any guy I was dating would have a little more sense in his head than that. I can't _stand_ those places. They're so _corny_."

"…Huh. I always thought it was kind of romantic, actually", mused Carley unashamedly.

"Yeah, well, you would, wouldn't you?" said Lilly, turning to face Carley with an exasperated expression. "Places like that are built for one thing and one thing only. Why pay to go and use a place like that, when you can just stay and do it in the comfort of your own home?"

"Well, that's not very exotic now, is it?" smirked Carley, clearly enjoying the banter now.

"If you wanna be surrounded by rose petals and lavender while you make out, then you might as well go and roll around in the bushes or something", said Lilly bluntly. "Those places are nothing but a scam to fleece love-sick couples who've got too much money, and not enough active brain cells." She finished her rant, then hesitated slightly before adding, "Uh … no offence or anything, Lee."

Lee shook his head, looking distinctly unamused. How was he _not _supposed to take offence to that? "…Not in front of Clem, you guys", he muttered pointedly, hoping to try and steer the conversation in a different direction.

Carley sniggered quietly, then turned back to scan the dark horizon again, as Lilly gave an unconcerned shrug and added, "I was vague enough."

"…What are you guys talking about?" enquired Clementine curiously, looking from one adult to another. When no one gave her an answer (Lilly merely tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear), Clementine gave an impatient huff and turned to Ben instead, who was still over by the old stone memorial. "Ben, do _you_ know what they're talking about?"

Ben appeared to be quite flustered by the question, the blush on his cheeks visible even in the dim evening light, and he took a few moments to compose himself before answering. "They're talking about, er … flowers?" was apparently the best he could come up with.

A brief ripple of laughter ran around the adults at this.

"No, they're not!" pouted Clementine crossly, her voice rising slightly in her anger. "I'm not stupid, you know!"

"Maybe when you're a little older, kiddo", said Lilly tactfully, clipping Clementine's hat playfully with her right hand. "Now let's get back to searching. Let's see if we can find this place before _they_ do", at this point she jerked her head unkindly in the direction of the others, as though she were referring to a disgusting cluster of cockroaches or something. "That way we can brag about it later, okay?"

"…Fine", grumbled Clementine, folding her arms grumpily. However, as she turned back towards the darkened landscape, she added in an undertone, "Geez, you guys never tell me _anything_."

Kenny wiped a tear of mirth from his eye (having unleashed a shout of laughter at Clementine's exchange with Ben), and the smile remained on his face as he said, "Kat and I visited a place like that once, you know."

"Oh, yeah?" said Lee conversationally, clearly still half-focused on what he was doing.

"Yeah. On our trip to, uh … Cyprus, I think it was", he muttered thoughtfully, staring dreamily into space, as he attempted to recall the memories. "It was while we were on our cruise around the European isles. This was years ago, mind you. Before we had Duc-"

Once again, he cut himself off as he arrived at the topic of his missing wife and son. And just as before, his head and shoulders seemed to sink several inches, and his cheerful smile was replaced with a look of deepest anguish. The mood of the group seemed to take a nosedive immediately, as everyone started fidgeting around, unsure of what to say to Kenny.

"…We'll find 'em, man", Lee reassured him, having turned around in confusion when Kenny's fond reminiscence had tailed off into silence.

When Lee's words seemed to have little-to-no effect on Kenny's depressive state, Lilly shifted her stance awkwardly, then said, "Lee's right. You should try not to dwell on it too much. I'm sure they're all OK. I mean, they've got my dad with them, right?"

"…Yeah, that's what's worryin' me", Kenny muttered under his breath.

Lee grimaced slightly, but thankfully Lilly didn't seem to have heard Kenny's comment. It would have been a sure-fire way to start another argument, that was for sure. Turning back towards Kenny, he added reasonably, "Y'know, Mark's with them too, Kenny."

Lilly looked towards Lee, then paused for a fraction of a second, before murmuring, "…Yeah. Mark, too." By the hesitation in her voice, Lee could tell that Lilly's faith in Mark's survival capabilities was not as strong as the faith she had in her father's.

Apparently, Kenny felt similarly about the situation, as he said, "Yeah, look - I know that Mark's a good guy an' all, but…"

However, they never got to discover what this "but" may have entailed, because Carley's loud, excitable voice drowned out the remainder of Kenny's sentence.

"Guys, I think I've found it!" she cried happily.

"Where?" demanded Kenny and Lee together, as Ben, Lilly and Clementine all turned towards the sound of Carley's voice.

"Right there!" Carley exclaimed, pointing out into the forest with her left hand. "Looks like it'll only be a couple of hours walk from here, if we make good time!"

Lee began to hastily climb back down from his lofty perch, as Kenny joined Carley over by her corner of the ledge. His eyes followed the direction of her index finger. Squinting into the distance, he attempted to distinguish the blackened shapes down in the forest. "…Holy shit", he muttered a few moments later, an element of wonder to his voice. There was indeed a collection of structures directly northwest of their current location, and they certainly seemed to resemble buildings. "You know, I think she's gone an' done it. I think she's actually gone an' found the place!"

"Wow, way to go, Carley!" Ben applauded.

"She's always had a good eye", said Lee with an appreciative smile.

"Oh", huffed Clementine disappointedly. "_I_ wanted to be the one who found it…"

Lilly said nothing, but took a few steps forwards to try and see where they were now headed. When she got close enough to get an idea of the general direction that Carley was pointing in, her eyes flashed dangerously once again. "Are you fucking kidding me?! That's the direction we just _came_ from!" she shouted, her tone rapidly becoming outraged. "We couldn't have been more than a half-kilometre away from that shithole - before you guys decided to drag our asses up a goddamn _mountain_, that is! If we'd just stuck to the plan and kept combing the area like I suggested, then we'd probably already _be _there by now!"

"Yeah, _or _you could have led us in entirely the wrong direction again, an' we'd have been lost in the woods on some wild _goose chase _all night", Kenny countered tauntingly. "At least this way we know f'sure, which is exactly what I was tryin' to tell y'all back there."

Lilly looked momentarily like she had a rather severe case of lockjaw, but Lee could sense that a storm was brewing beneath the surface, so he decided to quickly intervene again before it struck. "Come on, guys, let's not fight", he pleaded, looking from Kenny to Lilly with his arms raised in a calming gesture. "We know where we're goin' now, right? That's a positive thing! Good job, Carley," he added, turning to smile genially in her direction.

Carley waved Lee's praise away with good grace, gesturing vaguely with her right hand, as though to say that it was nothing. Lilly, however, turned to stare aggressively in the opposite direction, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Pointless waste of time."

Meanwhile, as the others were celebrating Carley's discovery (or standing in irritable silence, in Lilly's case), Ben turned back towards the ancient burial site once again. The thing that had been fascinating him so greatly was the protrusion sticking out of the aged and moss-covered rock pile. It looked to Ben like it was the handle of some kind of weapon - maybe a spear or something. He glanced towards the others - Lilly and Clementine still on his left, Lee, Carley and Kenny on his right - and a glum expression momentarily settled upon his face. He knew that they all (or rather, most of them) saw him as both a coward and a liability, and that several of them (two in particular) would probably quite happily see him kicked out of the group. He couldn't much blame them, either. When it came to what this world had become, and what he was now required to do, Ben could only really describe himself as … well, a failure. No matter how hard he tried to pitch in for the team and win the other members' approval, he always seemed to find a way a messing up and ruining any positive contribution that he may have managed to achieve through his efforts.

They were all going to set off again soon, in the direction of this kinky hotel or … whatever it was. And on the way, Ben was sure that they were probably going to have to fight their way through the numerous stray walkers that were now roaming the forest below. And what was _he_ going to do? Hide in the bushes while his companions did all the dirty work for him? Remain cringing in fear, while his fellows did the jobs that were necessary in order to ensure their survival? … Probably.

But that wasn't what he _wanted _to do at all. He was an adult now, after all, just like everyone else. And if they could do it, why couldn't he?

Perhaps it was time to step up. Turning back towards the ancient rock pile, Ben once again allowed his eyes to linger on the spear-like object that was wedged in amongst the neatly stacked stones. He gave himself a moment to allow his imagination to wander, and a fantastic scene was painted before his mind's eye…

There he was, standing in the midst of about twelve advancing corpses, each one of them lumbering purposefully towards him, hungry for his flesh. He fearlessly raises his deadly new weapon, swinging it powerfully this way and that, as he begins to cut the beasts down, one by one. And there was Lee, fighting by his side, a fierce pride burning in his eyes. Clementine and Carley were cheering him on from the side lines, while Kenny looked on astonished, saying humbly, "He's a better man than me." After the battle, with his enemies all slain, Lilly approaches him sheepishly from behind, muttering awkwardly, "I'm so sorry for the way I've treated you, Ben. Can you _please_ find it in your heart to forgive me?"

A contented smile crept onto Ben's face at the very thought of it. Yeah, he thought. That would be _awesome_.

The others were all discussing something around him (probably planning how best to go about making their now treacherous descent in the dark), but he wasn't really listening. He had eyes only for the spear - soon to be his new travelling companion. He'd be like King Arthur from the stories he'd heard about as a child, and pull the legendary blade from the stone … or something. He did ponder the fact that one of the others would probably try and take the weapon from him once he was able to remove it (wanting to hog the glory for themselves, as they always did), but he would just have to cross that bridge when he came to it. He could probably come up with a convincing argument in his favour, if he tried hard enough, and in any case … he had to get the damn thing out first.

He loosened up his shoulders and flexed his long fingers and arms, wanting to warm his body up a little, before he began what was sure to be a long and difficult battle. He had to do it quickly though, otherwise one of the others was bound to come and remove it for him, which would _totally_ steal his thunder. Finally, he clutched the handle of the spear with both hands, spacing them out evenly to give himself the best possible grip on the weapon. And then, feeling the glow of destiny upon him, he started to pull.

"So, how're we gonna go about doin' this, folks?" Kenny was saying, looking questioningly from Carley to Lee (his eyes curiously passing over Lilly entirely).

"Couldn't we just go back down the way we came up?" Carley suggested hopefully.

"Nah, I wouldn't feel comfortable with that", said Lee with a concerned frown. "That was pretty steep on the way up. I wouldn't even wanna _think _about how bad it'd be on the way down. And if we can't even see where we're puttin' our feet…"

"So, what? Do we try goin' down some other way an' risk gettin' ourselves into an even _worse _mess?" Kenny asked incredulously, throwing his hands up in a gesture of impatience.

Lee folded his arms, thinking. He debated with himself for a few seconds, then turned and began to say, "Lilly, what do you think we should-", but he was suddenly distracted by something else that had caught his eye. "…Ben, what're you doin'?"

"Hang on!" said Ben through gritted teeth, now placing his right foot onto the stone monument, as he continued to desperately tug at the wooden handle of the spear with all his might. "I'll - I'll be with you in a minute!"

"…Stop playin' around with that and pay attention to the conversation, kid", Lee advised him sternly, unfolding his arms and taking a step in Ben's direction.

"Ju - Just a minute! _I've_ … _almost _… _got it_!" panted Ben desperately, uttering each word in between frantic yanks of the wooden pole protruding from the burial site.

"Ben, come away from there. That's dangerous", said Lee seriously.

"It's - It's okay, Lee! I've got this! Trust me!"

"I said stop playin' around with that! _Now_. If you pull that out, it could cause a rocksli-"

"It's … _OUT!" _Ben yelled, cutting across Lee's final warning, as he gave the weapon he so-craved one last fateful tug. The wood splintered clean in two, clearly weakened from having been exposed to the elements for however many years it had been up here.

The rock pile from which the "spear" had come gave an almighty wobble, and then came crumbling down. Ben sat there on the ground for a moment, still clutching the useless half of his desired weapon, and watching on in wide-eyed horror as the rocks began to tumble towards him. Then he gave a high-pitched scream and turned tail, attempting to scamper frantically away before he was buried alive by the falling rubble. He was only able to make it a few feet before he was struck over the head by one of the large stones, which knocked him unconscious instantly. His body crashed painfully into the hard, rocky ground, but luckily the bulk of the rocks seemed to fall around him, rather than on top of him. Only his legs were trapped by the time the pile had collapsed completely.

"Ben!" Lee, Carley and Clementine all called out, with varying degrees of concern in their voices. "Shit!" was all that Kenny managed to utter, his eyes almost as wide and shocked as Ben's had been.

Before any of them had managed to take more than a tentative step towards Ben's location however, the ledge they were all standing on gave a tremendous shudder. No, in fact … it felt like the entire landmass _itself _was shaking. The collapse of the old monument seemed to have set off some kind of chain reaction on the layers of earth beneath their feet, and that didn't bode well for the group at all.

"Alright… Nobody panic", said Lee, in what he hoped was a calm and commanding voice, though he was honestly struggling not to panic _himself_.

"…I fucking knew it!" Lilly shouted angrily, raising her voice above the growing rumbling and quaking noises, her arms spread wide to try and brace herself against the continued tremors. "This whole goddamn _structure _is unstable! _Nice_ going, Kenny! You've led us into a fucking _death trap_!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Kenny retorted, equally furious. "Save yer bitchin' for later, will ya?! We gotta get outta here! An' _fast_!"

"But what about Ben?!" Carley shouted over the din, her hands raised to clutch either side of her head - whether this was a measure designed to protect her ears from the now deafening racket, or an act of sheer fright, wasn't entirely clear.

"There ain't time!" yelled Kenny harshly. "We gotta go!"

"What?!" Carley gasped, gaping at Kenny in disbelief. She looked desperately in Lee's direction, hoping that he had some kind of plan to get them all out of this, but Lee seemed to be just as shaken and lost as everyone else. Thinking quickly, Carley briefly licked her dry lips before saying, "Well, maybe we can - A-AAAGH!"

She was cut off by her own shriek, as the ground beneath her began to give way. "H-Help!" she screamed, trying desperately (and failing) to maintain her balance, as the northern most edge of the ledge began to break away from the rest, cascading down the cliff face to the forest below.

Kenny acted fasted, dashing over towards Carley and latching firmly onto her left arm, catching her before she fell. However, as Kenny reached her, his feet slipped on the unstable ground, and he skidded further towards the edge, losing his grip on Carley in the process. Carley gave another scream as she toppled helplessly out of sight, with Kenny soon to follow.

Thankfully, Kenny managed to swing his body around as he fell, enabling him to dig both of his elbows into the surface, and prevent the rest of his body from following his legs over the edge. No sooner had he managed to do this, however, then his body gave an unwelcome lurch backwards, as though something heavy had just latched itself onto his midriff. "F-Fuck!" he sputtered, while struggling desperately to cling onto what little remained of the ledge.

Lee was momentarily frozen in shock. Then suddenly, his voice returning to him, he shouted, "Carley! Kenny! Hold on! I'm comin' to help you!"

He had just taken a purposeful step in Kenny's direction when another scream reached his ears, one which made his blood run cold. He whirled around to see that the southern side of the ledge was also beginning to break apart, and just like Carley before her, Clementine was being dragged helplessly over the edge, as the ground beneath her began to disintegrate.

"CLEMENTINE!" shouted Lee desperately, his vocal chords straining painfully in his throat.

Lilly reacted like lightning as Clementine fell backwards, throwing out a long right arm and clamping her fingers down on Clementine's left hand. Unfortunately, as with Kenny, Lilly's sudden motion seemed to have hastened the earth's collapse and, sure enough, the ground beneath _her_ boots also began to give way. "Oh, fuck!" Lilly cursed, frantically trying to back pedal while also maintaining her hold on Clementine's tiny fingers. The attempt was a lost cause, however, and she too slipped over as her foothold crumbled away, dragging both her and Clementine towards the abyss. With once last desperate burst of strength, Lilly thrust out her left hand as she slipped over the edge, managing to lock her firm fingers onto a fairly sturdy-looking stone that had not, yet, broken away from the rest. She then immediately dug her thick-toed boots into the cliff face in front of her, thus giving herself a much better grip on the rock.

Lee took a few frightened steps in their direction, fear and adrenaline flooding his body in equal measure. "L-Lilly?!" he cried uncertainly, unable to see the fingers that were still clutched onto the side of the ledge.

"I-It's alright!" Lilly called back, starting to hoist herself, one-handed, back onto the ledge. "I've got 'er!"

A wave of relief surging through him, Lee once again swivelled his body around towards the opposite side of the ledge, where Kenny was still clinging on for dear life. "Kenny! Pull yourself up, man!" Lee encouraged, calling out to him desperately. After all, he had both arms still on solid ground. If Lilly could do it…

"T-Trust me, I'm … _tryin'_!" Kenny yelled back in a pained voice. "But _somethin's_ weighin' me down here!"

"Kenny, hold on! Whatever you do, _don't let go_!" came Carley's fearful voice from out of sight, causing yet another wave of blissful relief to explode inside Lee's chest. They were alive. They were all still alive.

"F-Fuckin' hell!" grunted Kenny gruffly, as his elbows began to slip even further towards the edge. "It's no good! You're too heavy! I can't pull us _both _up!"

"Well, you're gonna have to, 'cause I'm _not_ letting go!" shrieked Carley, her voice slightly hysterical now. "I'll _die_ if I do!"

"Goddammit!" yelled Kenny, his frustration somewhat masking his panic, as he tried, and failed, to once again scramble his way to safety using only his elbows. "This is gettin' us nowhere! Lee!" he called out, his eyes seeking out the man. "Can I get a little help here? 'Cause that'd be swell right about now!"

Lee hesitated. Any wrong move now could cause the whole structure to collapse, and yet he couldn't very well stand here and do nothing, either. He could feel every fibre of his body shaking with dread. He turned again to look towards Lilly's side of the ledge, hoping that she was making better progress at saving herself than Kenny was. Mercifully, she seemed to be fairing a little better on her end, as he could now clearly see her head and shoulders, with her having somehow mustered the strength to pull both herself and Clementine a foot or two closer to safety.

"Lilly, don't let go!" he heard Clementine sob, causing a spasm of fear to shoot across his chest again. "Please don't let go! I - I don't wanna die!"

"It's okay, Clem. I've got you", Lilly murmured stiffly, her face now shining with sweat from the effort of trying to pull the pair of them up, one-handed. "We're gonna be fine." She tried to smile reassuringly down at the girl, but it unfortunately came across as more of a painful grimace.

Clementine blinked up at Lilly in confusion, then took the dreaded look down. She screamed again, tearing her eyes away from the drop and clinging even more intently to Lilly's hand. "H-Hurry!" she squeaked.

"We're … almost … _there_!" Lilly panted, baring her teeth with the sheer determination to succeed. The rifle strapped to her back seemed to be weighing her down somewhat. "Not here", she growled fiercely, apparently more to herself than anyone else. "Not like this…" She summoned all of her remaining strength, then, with a cry of agony born from her aching muscles, she hoisted herself a little further onto the ledge, so that her upper torso was now almost entirely visible. "We're fine!" she shouted at Lee, seeming surprisingly composed for someone in her predicament, rather like she did this every day.

Lee nodded, Lilly's anger and focus strangely filling him with confidence. He took a few hasty steps back towards Kenny and Carley's location, careful not to cause the ledge to crumble away any more than it already had. But then he heard it - an ominous cracking sound from behind him.

A single bead of sweat trickled down Lilly's temple, her eyes widening in fear for the first time. The rock that she had been so firmly clutching onto was slowly starting to splinter, threatening to break away from the surface.

"Uh… Lee", she called out, a note of panic now penetrating the forced calm of her voice. "Whatever you're gonna do, do it fast."

Before Lee even had the chance to turn around again, he heard Carley scream, "Oh, god! Oh, fuck! K-Kenny! _Hurry up_! I'm slipping!"

"Yeah, an' you're damn well pullin' me down with ya!" Kenny hollered back, his face gradually turning red with the effort of keeping them both from falling.

Sure enough, Carley's arms, which were locked around Kenny's midriff, were beginning to give out on her. She tried to fight back the tears, as terror flooded her face. Was she really going to die here? She made a desperate attempt to hoist herself more firmly onto Kenny's waist, but in doing so, accidentally dislodged the handgun that had been stowed away within her jeans. "Oh, no!" she cried, watching on helplessly, as her trusty Glock tumbled out of her reach and down the steep drop of the cliff face. "Now I've lost my fucking _gun_!"

"Yeah, well we've got bigger things to be worryin' about right now! Lee!" Kenny bellowed again. "Get over here, pal! We need ya!"

"_Please_, Lee, hurry!" sobbed Carley, now blatantly on the verge of tears.

"Lee, I don't know how much longer I can hold on here!" came Lilly's strained voice from the opposite side of the ledge. "Make a fucking _move_ already!"

"Lee, help!" squealed Clementine, the tears now streaming down her face.

Lee stood there, paralyzed, in the centre of the ledge. He was watching one of his worst nightmares play out before his eyes. On both sides there were people desperately fighting for their lives, and on both sides there were people he cared for dearly … people he couldn't afford to lose. Time seemed to be standing still. All ability to distinguish sounds left him.

He turned his head slowly to the right. He could see Kenny's mouth moving, his eyes fixed firmly on Lee's face, clearly _begging_ his friend for assistance. Carley's despairing sobs were still clouding his thoughts. The pair of them were going to fall at any moment. He was slightly closer to them than we was to Lilly. He could get there quicker.

He turned his head slowly to the left. He could see that Lilly was now fighting a losing battle, struggling to hold onto the solitary rock that could no longer support both hers and Clementine's weight. Her eyes momentarily locked onto his - still fierce, still fiery and, despite her obvious fear, he could see that she was practically _demanding_ him to take action. Clementine's terrified screams were still penetrating his heart like arrows. Could Lilly hold on long enough for him to save the others first? … Possibly. But he wasn't sure about that at all.

Lee looked down at his own shaking hands, his head spinning with a thousand terrible thoughts in a single moment. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know which choice was right. His decision had led them to this point, and now the lives of his friends and loved ones were in _his_ hands. Make the wrong choice now, and someone he cared for would surely die … or perhaps someone he cared for was about to die, either way.

The only prevailing thought in his mind was that the time for indecision had passed. He had to make a choice. _Now_.

The only question was … what was he going to choose?

**[Help Kenny]**

**[Help Lilly]**

* * *

**Soon**: Well, there you have it, folks - the big choice that you've all been dreading/waiting for! So, do you agree with Carley? Are these "love hotels" a genuinely romantic getaway for loved-up couples to go and spend a few unforgettable nights in each other's company? Or do you agree with Lilly's more cynical approach? Are they just a con, designed to try and prey on gullible, soppy-minded fools? ... MAKE YOUR CHOICE!

...

What? ... Oh. Okay, then...

Er, my sponsors are telling me that what I've just written above isn't the actual choice. Apparently, the choice is whether you want to help either Kenny (&amp; Carley) or Lilly (&amp; Clementine). Well, that was kind of ... predictable. It's merely yet another "who do you save?" type of choice. _And_ it's another "Kenny or Lilly" choice to boot! It's like the meat locker all over again! ... Only different. Ah, well... It is what it is, I guess. So, you know... MAKE YOUR CHOICE!

I'll leave you guys to mull this one over for yourselves. Everything you need to make your decision is already contained within the chapter above. I shan't be giving away what will happen in either scenario. It could be that there's a "correct choice" - one where everyone lives - or it could be that someone is destined to die here no matter what, in which case, your only input would then be to decide who it is that lives and dies. Are you willing to gamble for a better outcome? Or will you choose to play it safe, and lose two of your group members for certain? Whatever you decide to do, make sure that you go with your gut instinct. You're gonna be the one who has to live with the consequences, after all. This is life and death that we're talking about here, man! ;P

Also, if you're reading this after all of the outcomes have already been posted, I can say only this - DON'T YOU _DARE_ CHEAT, YA BATTY! Don't go checking the outcomes before posting your choice! Make your choice first and _then _read on. That was my intent when I was designing this particular fan-fiction, and you'll get far more emotional payoff from the various conclusions to the story if you make your mind up _prior_ to reading them.

Needless to say that at least two (or possibly all three) of the following three chapters will contain some character deaths, so ... brace yourselves for that, if you're gonna be sticking around for the grim finale to this little tale.

While you're busy thinking about which decision you're going to make, how about a nice Skit to lighten the tone a bit? That shouldn't distract you at all, should it? Haha.

* * *

**Skit 2 (Spear of Destiny)**

**Ben**: *yanks the spear effortlessly from the stone monument*

**Everyone**: :o

**Ben**: *strangled battle cry* … "Bow before me, weaklings, for I have pulled forth the Spear of Destiny!"

**Everyone**: O_O

**Ben**: *begins stylishly twirling the spear in his hands* … "I am the defender of the weak! I am the master of all that is just and good! I am the blade that will strike down evil, and forever vanquish the-" *knocks himself out with the spear's handle*

**Kenny**: "...Welp. That happened."

**Carley**: "Oh, Ben…" *shakes head ruefully*

**Clementine**: "What a goof…"

**Lee**: "Hmm… I wonder?" *walks over and retrieves the spear from beside Ben's body*

**Carley**: "…Lee, what are you-?"

**Lee**: *begins stylishly twirling the spear in his hands* … "Watch on in awe, ye mortals, for I have obtained the Spear of Destiny! I shall cut through the darkness, and strike fear into the hearts of-"

**Lilly**: "_Stop that right now._"

**Lee**: "…Spoil sport." -_-

* * *

**Soon**: I'll probably see you guys tomorrow with the first of the three outcomes to this choice. I hope you're all ready for it, 'cause (depending on your decision) this could end up being pretty rough ... or you could find it rough either way. I mean, who knows, right? :P

Be sure to post your decision prior to reading the outcomes, won't you? I wanna know how you guys are gonna try and reason this one out. And no changing your minds afterwards! Once you've made your decision, you stand by it like a man ... or woman ... or whatever it is that you identify as! You hear me?

You will also be asked to make a choice _within _a choice while reading through whichever outcome you've selected, so you can look forward to more tough decisions after this. Yes, I know - I'm evil. This has been well established. :P

Let me hear from you, people. After all, the whole _point _of this short story is to gather user feedback, and hopefully inspire a little debate among the readers. If I'm not satisfied with the level of interest shown over the next twenty-four hours or so, then I may end up simply postponing the conclusion to this story indefinitely. So, if you're reading this, and would like to see how this story ends, then make sure that you take the time to actually _get involved_, won't you? "A Perilous Choice" was intended to be an interactive experience, not something that you can just watch on from the sidelines, y'know? So, I hope to hear from you soon...


	3. Help Kenny

**Soon**: ...Ah, shit. That was _way _too one-sided. I had a feeling that the choice needed to be re-balanced a bit, but I still thought it'd be at least _somewhat _more divided than this. I think we've already well and truly got our answer to the question - "Will he be willing to sacrifice his friends' lives to protect what he loves most?" - haven't we? The answer is a near-unanimous "YES!", it would seem.

Don't any of you care enough about Kenny &amp; Carley to even take the _risk_ for 'em? I mean, how would you all have felt if you'd been given the time to rescue both parties when you went for those guys first, huh? But you were all just like - "Oh no! Hold on guys, I'm coming to - oops, Clem's in danger, never mind! Gotta go, guys! Love ya!"

I mean, don't get me wrong, I saw it coming, but ... for near enough _all _of you to be willing to make the sacrifice for Clem's sake? ... Perhaps I've underestimated your new-found apocalyptic mindsets, huh?

* * *

**Reply to The Rose of Hedylogos: ***opens reviews* ... *gets blown back by the resulting sonic-boom* ... Welp, Soonian Customs dictate that I must shout at all those who shout at me. So, here we go...

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE" - MOSTLY AROUND TOWN! ALTHOUGH AN INORDINATE AMOUNT OF TIME HAS ALSO BEEN SPENT ON THE TOILET! BEST NOT TO ASK ABOUT THAT, THOUGH!

"THIS IS GOLD MY FRIEND!" - HOLY SHIT, I'M RICH!

"I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS RIGHT NOW!" - I KNOW, RIGHT? LORD SQUIRRELTON IS DEAD! T~T

"THIS IS BEAUTIFULLY FLAWLESS!" - THANK YOU _SO_ MUCH! NOW I JUST FEEL_ FABULOUS_!

*deep breaths* ... *coughs* ... My voice box may not recover for a while ... but it was totally worth it. Thanks for the review. :3

* * *

**Reply to Nemesis Anonymous**: Well, thank you. Although, my story-telling prowess isn't _really _going to be tested during a short-story like this one. That test will come in time, with my larger, more sprawling adventures. ;)

* * *

**Reply to Guest 1**: Hooray! _Someone _went for Carley &amp; Kenny, at least! However, even if you're right about the rock coming loose (nice theory there), how does going to help the others first really alter that situation at all? I mean, the rock is still gonna be coming loose afterwards, right? ... Just something for you to bare in mind.

* * *

**Reply to Guest 3**: Couldn't bring yourself to utter the words "Help Lilly", huh? ... Haha! It's okay. I understand.

* * *

**Reply to santiagoponcini20**: Aw, thank you. Also, "Lily is better", you say? ... Well, we here at Soonian Enterprises do not take sides in such matters, of course, but ... uh ... *slips you a thumbs up sign under the table*

* * *

**Reply to ZombieSlayer995**: Yes, yes, I am very psychotic. This has been well estab ... wait, what? And yes, you certainly _can _use a collapsing cliff-side in your own fan-fiction. I do not own the legal rights to such an event, unfortunately, as then I'd be _extremely _wealthy by now. I believe the common courtesy around here is to leave a shout-out to another author who has inspired you, however, so if you wanted to do that then I'd be fine with the arrangement. Just so long as you don't reveal my secret identity, we're cool...

And anyway, if you prefer Kenny to Lilly, did it not even cross your mind to try and take the extra risk for his sake? I mean, come on, man! Think of the dude's family here! :P

* * *

**Reply to leafs nation: "**Have you ever seen the Star Wars kid video on Youtube? You know, the one where the teen with the glasses is spinning a broomstick around the room and he ends up falling straight on his ass?" - I'd forgotten about that kid, honestly, but ... yes, I have seen it. I always thought that the best one was where someone actually edited out the broom for a _real _light saber. Now that was one badass klutz, right there!

"God damn, seriously he's like Shaggy from Scooby Doo" - Ah, that was as close as we got to a "Goddammit, Ben!" - I'd been hoping to receive one of those. Haha!

"I don't think Lee would be able to forgive himself if Clem were to fall down a rocky cliff." - We may find out the answer to this very question shortly... And although I agree with you, it doesn't mean that he wouldn't have been willing to take the risk for the sake of the others. After all, Lee is willing to jeopardise Clem's safety in the meat locker for the good of others, isn't he? As long as there's a greater good in mind (and as long as Clem isn't literally on death's door, which is ... debatable right here), then Lee has been known to have the ability of putting the needs of his friends before the needs of Clementine.

"The only thing that needs improving is for Ben to get his head out of his ass and start using his brain for a change!" - *gasps* ... Blasphemy! How _dare _you suggest such an outrageous thing! I mean, if Ben were to start actually using his brain, then everything might go smoothly for a change ... which I'm sure we can all agree would make for _horrible _story-telling! Anyway, what's The Walking Dead without someone always screwing everything up, y'know? XD

* * *

**Reply to BlechblachBleeeh**: Get yo' damn memes outta mah house! ... But yes, this certainly _was _a trap, just not as good of one as you're probably thinking. It's merely a simple bluff, not the far more intriguing double bluff, unfortunately. I'm not quite so evil as to fool everyone straight off the bat like that. ;p

* * *

**Reply to DarkStar35**: Yep. I went with the old "calm before the storm" strategy, hehe. And thanks again for the reviews. :)

* * *

**Reply to smeake**: Well, you may yet get your chance to bring down the hammer of judgement on Ben, so ... stay tuned for that, won't you? However, who will be killed and spared for each of these individual outcomes has already been pre-determined. I'm not really the type of writer who spares a character just because people ask me to, y'know? So, Kenny's fate is already well and truly set in stone, but you'll have to wait for the following update to find out what happens, I'm afraid.

* * *

**Soon: **Right then. Now that you've all (or rather, most of you) elected to go with the [Help Lilly] option, let's instead go in entirely the opposite direction and post the [Help Kenny] results first, shall we? Hehe! The game is up, I'm afraid, so I may as well reveal my cards at last ... even though most of you already have me beat.

So, let's get on with this...

This is the first of the three different outcomes that you can select for this story, "A Perilous Choice". If you're reading this, then you have either elected to go for the [Help Kenny] option, or else you went for one of the other two instead, and merely have a rather morbid curiosity about how selecting this particular choice will play out. If that is the case, then feel free to give your thoughts on this outcome in the review section after reading.

I should probably warn you, though, that you will also be expected to make yet another tough decision later on in the chapter, so ... don't go thinking that your work is done just yet. ;P

Either way, this is gonna be a bumpy ride, so ... hold onto yer butts.

* * *

**Outcome 1: Help Kenny (&amp; Carley)**

Lee had made his decision. Clenching his fists tightly and momentarily clamping his eyes shut tight, he summoned up his resolve and forced his body to move to the left, tearing off across the ledge towards Kenny &amp; Carley's location, all remaining caution for the stability of the ground apparently forgotten. He needed to move fast.

"LEE!" he heard Lilly yell angrily from behind him, as he set off to running in the opposite direction. The hint of disbelief (and betrayal) in her voice did nothing to help the mad panic now swelling within him, but he couldn't turn back now. Hesitating any further would just waste even more time, and could potentially cost the lives of _all _of his friends. He'd made his choice. He just had to hope that his hunch was correct, and that Lilly would be able to hold on long enough for him to save everyone. It was a calculated gamble. Kenny &amp; Carley were certainly closer to going over the edge than Lilly &amp; Clementine were, there was no doubt about that.

Within seconds he had latched his arms onto both of Kenny's, and began to slowly drag him - and, by extension, Carley - back onto the ledge. Kenny's pained grimace turned into a grin of relief as his friend helped him back onto solid ground, and Carley audibly murmured, "Oh, thank god", as she, too, was hauled towards safety.

Lee dragged Kenny away from the edge, and then tossed him roughly to one side, as he hurried to help Carley up too, who was now scrabbling slightly on the uneven rock, in her haste to try and reach her salvation.

No sooner had he ascertained that Carley was safely onto stable ground, then Lee turned hurriedly on the spot, sprinting off towards the opposite side of the plateau instead. He could see that the rock which Lilly was clinging onto had now snapped almost completely in two.

"I-Is something wrong?" panted Carley, the surprise evident on her face, as Lee immediately took off again, without so much as a word. Apparently, she was not yet aware of Lilly and Clementine's plight.

With a backwards glance, Lee sputtered only a single word to her over his shoulder, "Cl-Clementine."

Carley blinked in confusion and then looked to Kenny for answers, who was still lying face down, exhausted, on the ground next to her. "Oh, fuck…" Kenny gasped, forcing himself to sit upright, as the full realisation of the situation hit him. "Come on!" he yelled, yanking forcefully on Carley's right arm, so as to aid her in getting swiftly to her feet.

Lee was halfway back across the ledge when it happened - the stone that Lilly was so desperately clutching broke away from the rest. It had been the only thing preventing them both from falling … and so it followed.

Time was slowing down again. Lilly's eyes, widened with shock, couldn't have been locked onto Lee's for more than a fraction of a second, but somehow her disbelieving stare seemed to go on forever. And then she was gone, vanishing from Lee's eye line with a startled yelp, with Clementine no doubt joining her. Lee skidded to a halt at the tattered remains of the southern edge a mere second too late.

He peered over the edge, watching on in horror, as the two of them plummeted down the rock face at startling speed. They were both almost completely silent in their descent, the breath seemingly having been ripped from their lungs.

Lilly hastily threw out her arms, in a desperate attempt to catch hold of one the many jagged rocks poking out of the cliff face as she passed them by. Just as all was looking hopeless, the large, overhanging branch of a tree seemed to materialise out of the darkness below her. She thrust her body weight forwards to try and get closer to it, but misjudged the distance, and ended up catching herself painfully on her left side with the crooked point of the first branch. It tore clean through her clothing and skin, causing her to unleash a howl of pain that carried all the way back up to Lee and the others. Thankfully, however, the impact had drastically slowed her fall, which allowed her to make a wild lunge for the second branch hanging directly below the first one. She gratefully locked her arms around the brittle-looking wood, in what would best be described as a bear hug.

A glimmer of foolish hope ignited in Lee's chest, as he saw Lilly turn and once again throw out an arm (her left this time) in an attempt to catch Clementine too. However, it was far too late. Clementine had already tumbled way beyond Lilly's reach.

Lilly seemed to give herself a second to digest the consequences of her failure, before drawing her arm meekly back in again. Feeling that it was best for her to get herself to safety first, she then clumsily started to clamber along the branch, which was beginning to wobble ominously under her weight. Eventually she reached safety, dropping down onto the thin mountain trail just below the branch, though her injured side was clearly hampering her efforts somewhat. Once the soles of her boots were firmly planted on solid ground again, she cautiously leaned over the edge to try and catch sight of Clementine. Perhaps she, like Lee far above her, was silently praying that Clementine would mimic Lilly herself, and somehow manage to grab hold of one of the many rocks and branches protruding from the cliff face, but they both knew that she had already drifted too far away for this to be a realistic possibility.

They both watched on helplessly as Clementine continued to fall, her frail limbs flailing around pointlessly in mid-air, as she turned this way and that, frantically searching for something she could use to save herself. But nothing came.

"_LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_"

With one final, gut-wrenching scream, Clementine's tiny form disappeared into the forest below, which was followed immediately by a series of loud crashes and bangs, confirming that she had made heavy contact with the many treetops that rested there.

Silence.

A silence that seemed to stretch on for an eternity, during which both Lee, and Lilly below him, stood rooted in disbelief, neither one able to truly take in what had just happened. As the truth started to sink in, the harsh reality of the situation settled itself upon them both.

There was simply no way that she could have survived that fall. Clementine … was dead.

Lilly's saddened eyes lingered on the treetops for a few more seconds, as though she hoped that Clementine would suddenly re-emerge from between the leaves on the back of a flying horse, or some other mythical saviour. When this (predictably) failed to come to pass, however, she slowly lowered her head, and cupped her hands silently over her face with a shuddering gasp, the nasty injury on her side momentarily forgotten.

Many feet above her, Lee was still standing in the exact same spot, his expression of disbelief frozen in place, as though his body had suddenly been encased in ice. Kenny and Carley finally joined him at his side, both of them panting heavily.

"Did you get 'em?!" Kenny asked rather redundantly, as a single glance at their surroundings would have been enough for him to see that neither Clementine nor Lilly were present.

"What - What happened?" breathed Carley softly, her emotion seeming to constrict her vocal chords somewhat.

Lee didn't answer them. He couldn't answer them. He doubted whether he would ever be able to utter a single word ever again. He felt numb. Empty. His life seemed to have been torn apart, then put back together again, only to then be shattered into a million irreparable pieces, all within the space of just a few minutes. He didn't want to face the truth. He couldn't. The pain was too much for him to bear. There was simply no way that Clementine could be…

In an attempt to give his stuttering mind some form of clarity, or perhaps just to give himself something to do, Lee allowed his eyes to drift towards Lilly, who was still standing on a narrow ledge some distance below them. Her body seemed to be shaking slightly as he watched her, but otherwise she looked OK. Lee tried to find some solace in this fact, but he didn't quite feel able to process such an emotion right now. Then Lilly made a sudden, dramatic movement, turning swiftly on the spot to stare up at them all.

And as Lee caught sight of the expression on Lilly's face, what he saw there actually made him take a step backwards in alarm. Her features were contorted, her jaw was locked tight, and her hair was dancing wildly in the high wind, all of which added to the unexpected wave of terror that had just washed over Lee. He had never seen Lilly look at him like that. He had never seen Lilly look at _anyone _like that. It was beyond anger, even. It was something far more powerful than that. Something much darker. Something frightening. To say that it made him apprehensive would have been an understatement. He felt a sudden chill creep down his spine, one which had nothing to do with the cold mountain wind.

Then they heard the growls. Dozens … no, perhaps _hundreds_ of lifeless souls calling up to them from the forest below. The sound of the rocks tumbling down the cliff face seemed to have echoed off into the surrounding trees, and they were now paying the price for their lack of discretion.

The walkers were coming.

Their heads all turned as one to look down towards the base of the cliff, but Lee, Kenny and Carley were much too high up to see what was happening that far below them.

Lilly cast wary eyes out into the forest. She glanced left, and then right, apparently trying to discern the best possible way to go about making her descent. Her lips were drawn into a thin line as she silently pondered her options, but then a sudden surge of pain caused her right hand to shoot back towards her injured side. She gingerly pulled back her torn leather jacket to reveal a nasty looking gash on the left side of her abdomen, no doubt the result of her head-on collision with the overhanging branch. She could only hope that the splintered wood had not punctured anything vital. She seemed to be bleeding quite heavily, and was starting to look a little pale - whether this was from blood loss or the sheer shock of the fall, however, it was difficult to tell.

Grimacing slightly, Lilly tore off a piece of her tattered tank top, folded it haphazardly with her left hand, and then placed it firmly onto the wounded area, releasing a soft hiss of pain as the material made contact with her partially shredded flesh. Readjusting the strap of the rifle that had been digging into her neck, she cast another worried glance downwards, towards the base of the rocky structure, where numerous bodies were now starting to emerge from the shadow of the trees.

She then turned to look towards her companions at the summit once more - or rather, one of them in particular. Her gaze was cold, with no trace of forgiveness or understanding present in her eyes. Her lip curled slightly in disgust as she glared up at Lee. She was looking at him as though she were seeing him clearly for the first time, and she didn't seem to particularly like what she was seeing, either. It was a leer of deepest loathing.

And then she was gone again. Bending low, she set off down the cliff face once more, with surprising speed for someone with such a crippling injury. A few seconds later she had disappeared into the night completely.

A single bead of sweat trickled down Lee's forehead, as he continued to stare at the place where she had vanished. Although his head didn't really have room for any genuine concerns right now, he had to admit that somewhere, deep inside of him, he had experienced the smallest flicker of fear, upon seeing the way that Lilly had first looked at him. Put simply, there had been _murder _plastered all over her face, and seeing such a dreadful expression, from one of his closest allies, had truly shaken him to his core. He had never experienced anything quite like it before. Even in his current state of numb disbelief, he already knew one thing for sure - he wasn't looking forward to reuniting with Lilly again at all. In fact, he was now dreading the prospect. To merely face her wrath would have been one thing, but he would then also be confronted with his own guilt and remorse. Could he even justify his choice to _himself_, never mind her? And would Lilly even be interested in listening to his excuses? Upon remembering that chilling expression on her face, he didn't think so somehow…

"What the hell happened?" asked Carley once more. Her tone was more forceful this time, though it was still quavering slightly with suppressed emotion.

"I … I don't-", Lee began, without being entirely sure what it was that he was planning to say.

After a few tense seconds of silence, Kenny said awkwardly, "Er… Clem an' Lilly went over the edge, too. At the same time that we did", evidently seeking to aid his friend by uttering the words that he could not bear to. "They were both hangin' on the last I knew, but … well, I guess they must'a fallen after Lee came to help us…"

Carley looked simply outraged. "So you just _left_ Clementine there?! What the hell were you _thinking_?!" Just like Lilly before her, Carley was gaping at Lee as though she were seeing him plainly for the first time. Thankfully, however, her anger seemed to stem from shock and disappointment, rather than outright betrayal or hatred.

"I - I thought that Lilly could hold on a little longer", Lee stammered, nearly choking on his words as they tumbled out of his mouth. "I thought she had it. _She told me she had it_!"

The sudden surge of anger that had just flared inside Lee's chest burnt out almost as quickly as it had ignited, dying down to mingle with the unstable mixture of guilt and sadness that was now pressing in on him from every angle. He knew that he couldn't blame Lilly. She had tried her best, and nearly lost her life in her attempt to save Clementine. No, there was only one person he could blame here … and that was himself.

"I thought she could hold on…" he repeated softly, his voice the mere faintest of whispers, barely audible to his companions.

"So… Clementine is-?" Carley asked hesitantly, her eyes widened in trepidation, clearly fearful of hearing Lee's next response.

"Dead", said Lee in a hollow voice, confirming the dreadful truth that none of them wanted to hear. "Lilly tried to help her, but she … she couldn't hold on. She just couldn't…" Lee's words seemed to die in his throat. He placed both of his hands over his face, as though trying to shield himself from the cruel reality that the world was displaying for him. He didn't _want_ to let that reality sink in and, though his body shook with the effort of restraining it, he also didn't want to let any of the pain seep out. Doing so would somehow make it all the more real, and would kill the last piece of hope that was still flickering inside of him - the hope that, somehow, Clementine had survived the fall, that she was still alive … although, he already knew this to be impossible.

As though reading his mind, Carley asked the question that Lee had been dreading the most, "Did you … actually see her die? I mean, couldn't she have … I don't know … maybe survived somehow?"

Lee slowly lowered his shaking hands from his face, his tormented expression telling a story all of its own. He felt as though he had just endured a thousand years' worth of pain in the last two minutes, and yet still _more_ waves of anguish continued to cascade down upon him, beating his tortured body even further into the ground. He didn't know what to do with himself. He wanted - no, _needed _\- to unleash some of the misery that was currently wailing inside of him, but didn't have the first idea how to go about doing it. Even if he had wanted to cry, he wasn't sure that he would have been able to. This pain was … past the point of tears. It ran far deeper than that. It was inside of his soul, eating away at his very _core_.

"…No", he said finally, his voice now devoid of all emotion. "I didn't actually see it, but … no one was surviving that fall. She's … gone."

And that was when it finally hit him - she _was _gone. He had failed. Failed in his task of protecting her. His one last hope of redemption for his past mistakes, his greatest reason for continuing to live … had just been snuffed out. The light of hope that had been burning inside of him these last few months was now well and truly extinguished. His life had lost its meaning again…

Carley slowly shook her head, staring at Lee in disbelief. She seemed to be caught in two minds - while part of her still wanted to rage at him, shout him down for being so foolhardy, the other part of her didn't seem quite able to manage it. As she watched him, standing there like the hollow shell of a man, she found her anger ebbing away from her. He had already suffered more than enough pain for his actions. She didn't need to be adding any more right now. "I can't believe it…" she murmured quietly, apparently unsure of what else to say.

"I just wanted to save you both", Lee mumbled in that same lifeless tone, turning to look at his two remaining comrades. "I wanted to save everyone. I thought…" But once again, he found himself unable to finish the sentence, and settled instead for trying to swallow the immense lump that had now formed in his throat, constricting his speech.

Kenny gave Lee a long, sorrowful look, clearly doing some thinking of his own, and there was pity on his face as he observed the man before him. He turned first to Carley, his voice deep and full of emotion, as he said, "Look, whatever happened happened. It's done. An' there's nothin' that we can do to change that now. Lee made his choice an', no matter what we may think about it now, I'm sure that he had his reasons." Then he turned back to Lee, who looked up into his face as he said sadly, "It's like you once told me, right, pal? 'In a moment, when things are really outta control, you don't have any choice.' That's what you said to me way back when, an' … well … it seems pretty damn appropriate right now, y'know?"

Lee didn't say anything in response to this. One could only _guess _as to what was going on behind those troubled eyes. He looked up at Carley, who was staring at him silently, a woebegone expression now firmly settled on her face.

"This is the second time that you've saved my life at the expense of someone else's", she said quietly, her sadness apparent in each syllable that she uttered. "It seems to be becoming a bit of a trend…"

Again, Lee said nothing to this, but instead watched Carley closely, carefully taking in her every word.

"First Doug, and now … _Clementine_?" Carley shook her head again in saddened disbelief, before peering meaningfully into Lee's eyes. "I just … I'm beginning to wonder how many more people are going to die for my sake, you know?"

"...I'm sorry, Carley", whispered Lee softly, his voice still barely more than the faintest hiss. "I'm truly … truly sorry." And then, at last, he felt the sudden sting of tears in his eyes, but he forced them back with all his might. He wasn't about to go to pieces now. Not here. Not yet. He had to keep himself together, at least for a little while longer. They needed to survive this … as pointless as that notion seemed to him now.

The agonising silence dragged on for another ten seconds or more, before Kenny finally cleared his throat to speak again.

"Awright, look, I know that we're all still a little shaken up about what jus' happened, but … we've gotta move. Those things are prob'ly on their way up here as we speak, an' it's only gonna get harder to push our way through, the longer we leave it."

Carley looked to Lee, who nodded his head once without reply. Kenny drew a deep, steadying breath, seeming relieved that his companions were so willing, and then set off towards the route down the mountainside from which they had come. Carley reached her hand into the back of her jeans, as though preparing to check on the status of her handgun once more, only to retract it a split-second later, having remembered that her precious Glock had fallen from her grasp, and down to the rocky terrain below. Finding it again would have been a near-impossible task, even in broad daylight. With a sombre sigh of resignation, she turned on her heel and headed off after Kenny, motioning delicately for Lee to follow her as she went. Lee, however, was busy taking one last look over the edge of the cliff, scanning the darkened scenery one last time.

He would never forget this accursed place. Never, for as long as he continued to live … which may not even _be_ that much longer anyway, he thought gloomily. Death was not even a frightening prospect to him anymore. Had it not been for the lives of his companions, he may have given up right here - waited for the dead to come and claim him, never leaving this spot. As it was, he, too, turned on his heel and headed off after his remaining friends, steeling himself once more for the battle for survival that was surely to come.

His family … His friends … Clementine … What was this cruel world going to take from him next?

"Hey", came Carley's voice from a short distance away. "Hey, I think he's still alive!"

Lee picked up his pace, raising a curious eyebrow. He arrived at the scene of the fallen monument to find Carley crouched over Ben's unconscious body. Both of her hands were on the boy's back, and she was now shaking him gently.

"Ben? Ben! Can you hear me? You've got to wake up! We need to go! Ben!"

"This fuckin' piece o' shit is the whole reason this even happened in the first place", grumbled Kenny crossly, glaring down at the youth by his feet with something close to disgust.

"That isn't true", retorted Carley dismissively, continuing to shake Ben more ruggedly by the second.

"Don't try an' deny it. If it wasn't for him causin' that damn _rockslide _then Lilly an' Clem would still be here with us right now."

"What are you getting at, Kenny?" spat Carley angrily, clearly losing patience with Kenny's unwillingness to help her rouse the boy before them.

"I say we leave 'im."

"Are you fucking serious?!" Carley almost shrieked, her mouth hanging slightly agape, as she turned to stare at Kenny.

"Think about it", Kenny demanded fiercely, gesturing wildly from one companion to the other. "We need to leave _right now_, an' he don't exactly look like he's wakin' up anytime soon. So, we'd have to - what - _carry _the sonnuva bitch down the mountain?"

"That's exactly what we're going to do", said Carley, equally fierce. "Right, Lee?"

"An' then what happens when we run into those walkers down there, huh?" mused Kenny, clearly humouring her now. "How are we supposed to fight 'em all off if we've gotta worry about protectin' _this _sack o' shit, too? Huh?! Explain to me how exactly we're gonna go about doin' that, Carley! 'Cause if you've got any solutions, then I'm all ears!"

Carley merely scowled at Kenny for several long seconds, but then she lowered her head in defeat. Apparently, she _had _no solutions to that particular conundrum. "…We _can't_ just leave him here", she muttered quietly, after several further seconds of contemplation. "He's not ready to cope out here on his own. He'll die." She looked despairingly to Lee, her eyes seeming to shimmer with a silent plea for help.

"...Lee, you're not actually _buyin'_ this bullshit, are ya?" enquired Kenny hastily, after realising where Carley was now looking. "Clementine died because of _this _shit_-_", he kicked Ben hard in his left side. "-right here. An' if we're not careful, then he's gonna get _us _killed, too. We've got no _choice _but to leave 'im! Come on, Lee, you know that I'm right about this…"

"Lee, please", Carley whispered sadly. "He's still just a boy. A scared, stupid boy. And he needs our help."

Lee looked from one face to the other - Carley, kneeling on the ground beside Ben with her eyes still wide and pleading; Kenny, his right hand outstretched to display their getaway trail for Lee, his expression tense and expectant, as though merely waiting for Lee to make the correct decision. Lee allowed his gaze to fall back towards the unconscious boy at their feet, thinking hard. He had heard both Carley's and Kenny's arguments, and now the only question was … which one was he going to listen to?

* * *

**Take Ben**

* * *

Lee's chest expanded momentarily as he drew breath, and then contracted again as he released it into the night-time air. "Let's get 'im up", he said decisively, bending down to help a relieved and delighted-looking Carley shift the few remaining rocks which had fallen onto Ben's legs, thus trapping him in place.

Kenny gave an irritable twitch as he watched the pair work, and then grumbled, "This is a bad idea, Lee. We don't have time for this."

"No one else is dyin' today", said Lee firmly, pausing to throw Kenny a look of intent. "Not if I can help it."

Kenny seemed to dwell on Lee's words for a second, then merely gave a shrug of his shoulders and a small shake of his head.

Lee turned back to focus on the task at hand and, with a little help from Carley, succeeded in dragging Ben's unconscious body out from underneath the rocks. As he hoisted Ben into an upright position and flung the boy's limp left-arm over his shoulders, Lee once again turned to Kenny, only this time with a request. "Gimme a hand, would ya?"

Kenny hesitated. Lee's fierce expression was still very much in place, but there was now a slight plea mixed in with the determination. Kenny heaved a huge sigh, and then went to help, pulling Ben's right arm across his own shoulders. He then shot Lee small smile, clearly having resigned himself to helping out his friend, even if it was against his better judgement.

It was then that Carley passed by Lee's opposite side, closing in swiftly and planting the gentlest of kisses on his left cheek, whispering just a single, "Thank you", as she did so.

Lee stared at her sadly. In any other situation, he probably would have smiled in response to her affections, but ... not tonight. Not after all that had just happened. He turned back to Kenny and nodded just the once, confirming his intention to move. Together, the two of them effortlessly lifted Ben into a standing position, and then began the slightly awkward task of carrying the long and lanky boy towards their only confirmed escape route. As they reached it, Kenny paused and panted, "So… what do we do now, folks?"

"We'll have to try and fight our way through", said Lee heavily. "No other choice."

"I don't have a gun anymore", Carley pointed out fearfully.

Lee gave himself a few seconds of deliberation, then retrieved his own gun from the back of his jeans. "Here. Use this one instead." He handed it to her delicately with his free left hand.

Carley gratefully accepted the weapon without hesitation, then immediately set to checking the clip, to make sure that everything was in good working order. "So, we've got two guns, and not a lot of bullets", she said glumly, glancing from Kenny, who was looking slightly annoyed, to Lee, who was now looking serious and concerned.

"Well, we'll just have to make our shots count then, won't we?" he shrugged, trying not to sound as apprehensive as he felt.

"I always do", said Carley proudly. "And you?" she prompted anxiously.

"I'll be fine. I've still got my left hand, don't I?"

Carley flashed him an understanding smile, clearly aware that Lee was putting on a brave face for her benefit. "Okay, then. Let's go", she said finally, hopping down onto the ledge below. "Whatever you guys do, try and stay behind me, alright? At least until we're off this godforsaken rock."

"Will do", Kenny grunted reservedly, not entirely meeting Carley's eye. He and Lee then set about the task of lowering Ben on to the next level, with Kenny going first, and having Lee pass the boy down to him afterwards.

Lee's eyes seemed to be slightly glazed over as he climbed down after his companions, reaching out for Ben's left arm again after he had assured his own safe footing. He was in the zone now. He was determined that nothing was going to faze him until he and his friends had found somewhere safe for the night. He had no other choice but to keep moving. However, the inside of his brain was still reeling from what had happened to Clementine.

What would the others say, if or when they found them again? And - Lee's heart skipped a beat at the thought - what would Larry have to say about all this? The old man had promised to punish him if he ever did anything to hurt either Lilly or Clementine, and he had just somehow managed to lose both of them in a single night. And even if Lilly made it back safely, was he really any better off? All she would do is confirm for the group what Lee had actually done, and he was honestly fearing _her_ wrath more than he was fearing her father's at this moment in time.

And Clementine … innocent little Clementine … his sweet pea. Where was she now? Was her body stuck in a tree somewhere, disfigured and grotesque? Was she on the forest floor, perhaps, getting picked apart by hungry walkers and forest critters? Or had her brain survived the fall? Could she have maybe reanimated? Lee banished these unbearable images from his mind, determined to keep marching forwards, to not break down. And yet, even if they succeeded in climbing down the cliff face, and then made it through the forest in one piece, he was sure that there would come a time, several hours from now, when he would sit himself down in a lonesome room and truly be confronted with what he had done for the first time. He would no doubt ask himself - "What is there left for me in this world now?" - and … he wasn't sure that he would be able to give himself a favourable answer. What _was _left for him in this world, now that Clementine was gone?

One step at a time, Lee told himself. One step at a time.

* * *

**Leave Ben**

* * *

Lee's chest expanded momentarily as he drew breath, and then contracted again as he released it into the night-time air. "We're leaving 'im", he said decisively, taking a step back from the place where Ben still lay, silent and helpless, on the uneven ground. He turned to a gobsmacked-looking Carley and motioned for her to get up too, adding briskly, "Come on. Let's go."

Kenny gave a small sigh of relief. "Awright, good. Let's get a move on then, 'fore it's too late."

Carley, however, didn't budge. Her accusing glare was now focused solely on Lee, and he thought that he even caught sight of an angry tear in her eyes as she said, "So, that's it, then? You're just going to leave him here to die?"

"It's either he dies, or we _all_ die, Carley", Lee stated bluntly, his expression now cold and unfeeling. "And I'm not prepared to risk all our lives for someone like _Ben_."

"But he's one of _us_!" Carley pleaded desperately, searching Lee's face for some hint of compassion or mercy. "He's been travelling with us all this time, hasn't he? Helping us, laughing with us, _suffering _with us - does that mean _nothing _to you?"

Lee peered at her for several long seconds, drinking in her words, and considering her request. Kenny's was shuffling his feet and looking slightly uncomfortable, his eyes travelling back and forth between the two of them. Eventually, Lee broke the silence…

"He's had his chance and he blew it. I'm just not willing to take the risk, Carley. I've made my decision."

Stunned disbelief was gradually replaced by a hardened scowl as Carley listened to Lee's words. She allowed her gaze to fall back onto Ben's motionless form once again, her eyes seeming dance about restlessly in their sockets. After a moment's pause, she turned back to Lee and muttered mutinously, "And if I refuse to go with you?"

A flicker of anger shot across Lee's face at this. Apparently, he didn't appreciate her challenging his judgement, least of all with what he clearly considered to be low-blow tactics. Sensing danger brewing, Kenny decided to intervene…

"Look, we don't have time for this, alright? You're welcome to bring the kid with us if you want, Carley, but you'll have to carry 'im _yourself_, 'cause me an' Lee ain't about t' risk our lives for this asshole, okay?"

Carley's eyes snapped shut, a look of sheer revulsion upon her face. Then she rose to her full height (which, admittedly, wasn't much) and dusted off some dirt from her clothing. She shot a rather nasty look in Kenny's direction, then walked straight up to Lee and whispered, "Is this who we are now, Lee? First Clementine … and now _Ben_? Are we really becoming the type of people who allow _children _to die?"

These words acted like a dagger to the gut for Lee, and once again he felt a great pool of anger bubble up from deep inside of him. Was she really doing this? _Now_, of all times? He closed his eyes and took another steadying breath, in an attempt to tame his rising temper once more. Then he opened them again and stated firmly, "We'll talk about this later. If you wanna live, then _move_."

It was a silent standoff. Carley noted the cold determination present on Lee's face, then returned an equally frosty glare of her own. She had never known Lee to act like this, in all of the time she had known him. "I don't even know who you _are _anymore, Lee", she hissed waspishly, before tearing her gaze away from his, and streaking past him towards their escape route.

As Lee stood there, trying to master the powerful frustration now building from within, Kenny clapped a hand on his shoulder, leaning in to whisper, "You made the smart choice here, pal. She may not appreciate that fact right now, but ... she will … in time."

"…Yeah", murmured Lee with a non-committal grunt, while absent-mindedly flexing his fingers to form a fist. Truth be told, even _he _wasn't sure if this was the right decision or not, but he knew that they'd never make it out of this predicament if they weren't prepared to make some sacrifices. He hadn't been forced to watch on as sweet, young Clementine had met her demise, only for them to then also lose _their_ lives defending the clumsy, hapless oaf known as Ben shortly afterwards.

"Are you guys coming or not?" asked Carley from a short distance away, her tone now as icy as an Arctic blizzard. "Because I _thought_ you said we were in a hurry", she added snidely.

"Yeah, we're comin'", muttered Kenny passively, tapping Lee briefly on the arm, and then gesturing for him to follow.

As both Kenny and a very unsettled-looking Lee reached her, Carley glanced briefly at the pair of them with one eyebrow raised, then glared angrily off to the side as she conceded, "I don't have a gun anymore."

Lee and Kenny exchanged sideways looks, as Carley continued, "I lost mine back there, when I was hanging over the edge. So, if you two want me to help fight those things off then I'm gonna need a new weapon."

Kenny's moustache twitched nervously, then he turned to Lee and said sadly, "She's got a point, Lee. She's prob'ly better with a pistol in hand than either one of us. Looks like one of us is gonna have to go bare-handed, huh?"

Lee gave himself a moment to consider his options - he certainly wasn't looking forward to having to fight off walkers with his bare hands, as that was never an enticing prospect. However, if he was being completely honest with himself, the real reason behind his hesitation was the thought of being confronted by _Lilly_ without a weapon, rather than the undead. He would have liked to believe that she wouldn't ever do anything to hurt him, but then … he would also have liked to believe that she could never look at him in the way she had done earlier on. Still, if worse came to worst, he at least knew that he wouldn't have to face her alone.

He sighed and reached into the back of his jeans to retrieve his Glock. "Here. Take it", he said shortly, his expression pensive and his tone serious, as he handed Carley the gun.

Carley seemed to chew moodily on her tongue for a second, as though she were actually considering declining Lee's offer, but then she released a sigh of her own and, swallowing both her anger and her pride, accepted the weapon that he was offering her. As if by habit, she immediately checked to see if it was properly loaded. "Not a lot of bullets", she commented evenly, slotting the half-empty clip back into the gun.

"Better make 'em count, then," Kenny advised her. "Otherwise, we're _all_ screwed."

Carley made no further comment as she hopped down onto the level below, completely ignoring Kenny's gentlemanly gesture to allow her to go first.

Kenny gave an irritable tut, then coiled his arm sympathetically around Lee's shoulders, helping to guide him towards the gap in the rocks. "Come on, pal. Try an' keep it together, yeah? Just for a little while longer…"

Lee barely heard Kenny's words of encouragement, as he wearily climbed down after Carley. His mind was all over the place, but he was desperately trying to prevent himself from falling into the pit of misery that was now threatening to engulf him. He turned his head as he landed, taking one last look back at Ben, who still showed no signs of stirring. He just hoped that he was doing the right thing. He wasn't sure if he even had any more room left in his head for additional regrets, but he knew that he had only lost Clementine because he had been unwilling to risk losing Carley &amp; Kenny. He had tried to save everyone, but had instead ended up losing his most treasured companion as a result. He wasn't about to make the same mistake again. He had to prioritise what was most important to him going forward, and weighing the lives of Kenny &amp; Carley (as well as his own life) against Ben's had really been no contest whatsoever. Unlike Kenny, he still held no ill-will towards the boy. Honestly, he felt just as responsible for all of this as Ben was. And yet … this was just something that had to be done. A sacrifice for the greater good. Although, Carley didn't appear to see it that way…

His thoughts then turned to the others who were still missing. What would Katjaa have to say about him losing not only Ben, but Clementine as well? What of Larry, Mark and Duck? And what of Lilly? Would any of them be able to forgive him? Would any of them even _try_ to understand? Or would they all judge him harshly? Proclaim him a monster and a murderer of children, just as Carley seemed to be doing at this very moment?

Either way, he had no space left in his heart to spare for any of them right now. The only thoughts that he was willing to give way to, as he shimmied steadily along slippery rocks and across dangerous crevices, were the thoughts of Clementine ... his sweet pea ... now gone forever … and all because of him. Was Carley right? _Was _he becoming a monster? Or had the monster always existed beneath the surface, with Clementine's innocent smile acting as his only lasting restraint? His only true escape from sorrow and madness…?

These were questions that he would have to ask himself in due course, but now was not the ideal time for soul-searching. He glanced at Carley to his right, who was still staring bitterly straight ahead of her, and then he glanced towards Kenny on his left, who now seemed to be silently wrestling with the guilt which accompanied the decision they had just made, as Lee was himself. Was he even _happy_ that they were both still alive? He supposed that he must be, deep down, but … such emotion did not really feel accessible to him anymore.

Only one feeling prevailed, above all of the things that were currently swirling around in his chaotic mind - he needed to survive this. They _all _needed to survive. For Ben's sake. For Clementine's sake. They couldn't allow this to all be for nothing…

And with that thought there to sustain him, Lee tensed the muscles in his arms, once more preparing himself for the inevitable battle that was still to come.

* * *

**Soon**: Well, there you have it. That's what happens if you choose to help Kenny instead of Lilly - Kenny &amp; Carley are both still alive and well, whereas Clementine is almost certainly dead. Lilly is still alive as well (when last sighted, at least), but doesn't appear to be altogether pleased with your decision ... to put it mildly.

I may have gone a little overboard on the reaction to this one, but ... hey, it's not every day that you get to kill Clem off, y'know? Especially with Lee having been the one at fault. I just wanted to explore Lee's reaction to such trauma in greater detail, is all.

So, for those of you who made this choice - how do you feel about it, having now read the outcome? I would assume that most of you who selected this option did so because you hoped that it would give you enough time to save everyone (which was my actual intent heading into this choice, of course), but Lee's efforts fell tragically sort, and thus resulted in Clementine's death.

I suppose that it's also entirely possible that some of you merely valued the lives/companionship of Kenny &amp; Carley over Lilly &amp; Clementine, so ... for those people, how do _you _feel about this outcome? Are you satisfied? Saddened? Do you regret your decision at all? ... And are you pissed off that Lilly somehow managed to survive, but not Clementine? Haha!

Also, did you take Ben or leave him? And what was your rationale behind making that particular choice? Are you happy with your companions' reactions to said choice? Let me hear from ya!

Now, let's completely ruin the mood with a Skit, shall we? ... What? Hey, it's only a damn short story. So, you know ... Bill me! Anyway, moving on to the actual Skits themselves - I'll give ya two of 'em this time, 'cause I'm generous like that. Enjoy.

* * *

**Skit 3 (Tree Hugger)**

**Lilly**: *manages to grab hold of an overhanging branch as she's falling, hugging it for dear life* … "I'll never let go, tree. I'll never let go."

*titanic music starts playing*

**Sir Branchalot of the Western Keep**: "Why hello, my fine lady!"

**Lilly**: "Y-You can _talk_?!"

**Sir Branchalot**: "Why, _yes_! So good of you to drop so suddenly into my midst - like an _angel_ falling from heaven!"

**Lilly**: "Uh…"

**Carley**: "Aw, that's sweet."

**Soon**: "Lee had never seen Lilly hug a tree like that. Lee had never seen Lilly hug _anyone _like that."

**Lee**: "Um… Why are you narrating my thoughts?"

**Soon**: "Because otherwise the readers won't be able to - … oh, never mind."

**Kenny**: "Never had her pegged for a tree hugger…"

**Carley**: "I think I've found my new OTP." :3

**Kenny**: "Hehe. Don't you mean you've found your new O-_Tree_-P?"

**Carley**: "...Ugh, that's just gross."

**Lee**: "Yeah, Kenny, you're kinda stinkin' up the place, man."

**Lilly**: "THAT IS SO _BAD_!"

**Kenny**: "Tch. Fine. I'll jus' go an' take my cultured sense of humour somewhere it'll be properly appreciated, then."

**Ben**: *groans from underneath the rocks*

**Kenny**: "You stay out of this!"

* * *

**Skit 4 (Fairy Clem)**

*Clementine flies out of the forest with glittering fairy wings on her back*

**Clementine**: "I'M ALIVE~!"

**Carley**: "Alright~!"

**Kenny**: "Not bad!"

**Lee**: "_Nice._"

**Lilly**: "Good! Now get me off of this fucking branch already!"

**Sir Branchalot**: "B-But … I thought that we had something, my lady?" :'(

**Lilly**: "You just _stabbed_ me_, _asshole!_"_

**Sir Branchalot**: "A - A simple miscalculation. I was merely trying to _catch _you, my lady."

**Lilly**: "Yeah? Well, your aim is fucking _terrible _then, isn't it?!"

**Carley**: *sighs* ... "Well, that ship certainly sank quickly."

**Kenny**: "Like all of her relationships, no doubt."

**Lilly**: "I _HEARD_ THAT, KENNY!"

*Lord Squirrelton's corpse falls out of her jacket and plummets down to the forest below*

**Lilly**: *gasp* … "I dropped my squirrel! Nuuuuuuuuu~!" T~T

**Kenny**: "Oh, _nice_ one, Lilly! Now we're _all _gonna go without dinner t'night!"

**Lilly**: "This was _your _fault! If you hadn't distracted me-!"

**Kenny**: "Here she goes again - deflectin' the blame, like she always does."

**Lilly**: "I HEARD _THAT_, TOO!"

**Sir Branchalot**: "Now wait just one moment. You - You _murdered _Lord Squirrelton?! Wh-What manor of _treason_ is this?!"

**Lilly:** "…Uh-oh. Er … Any - Any time now, Clem."

**Clementine**: *still whizzing around at high speed* "_Weeeeeeeeeeeeee_~!"

* * *

**Soon**: And they all lived happily ever after ... except for maybe Lilly ... who's currently stuck on Sir Branchalot, so ... hmm. Ah, well. I'm sure she'll be fine, right?

I'll be uploading the outcome of the [Help Lilly] option tomorrow, I think. So, for those of you who selected that one and are still eager to see the results (or else dreading them), you'll have to sit tight for a bit longer, 'kay? Until next time, guys. ;)


	4. Help Lilly

**Soon**: ...Yeah, it seems that some of you found that last one to be pretty tough going, huh? Hey, I warned you that it was gonna be rough, didn't I? ;p

* * *

**Reply to leafs nation**: You seem to be a little conflicted on your ideal scenario there, buddy. Haha!

"this fruit just got squished." - Clever.

Huh, I kind of figured that you'd want to _leave _Ben, if I'm honest. Let's see if you still maintain your stance after this chapter, shall we?

"she's one badass girl who I'd be over the moon to see possibly in season 3 or in a DLC type of deal." - Yeah ... not gonna happen. PM me if you wanna know why. I'm not about to discuss it here. As for Lilly in general, I also won't be discussing her too much on this story. There will be plenty of chances to do that in my future stories and updates, trust me - her theft of the RV (even if you agree to leave with her) in particular. Needless to say, she's a ridiculously complex woman. Arguably the most complex character in the entire game, in fact.

Although, I can't help but notice a slight logical fallacy at play here. You said that you don't want to leave Ben behind in this story, and yet you were apparently quite happy to agree to abandon Ben (along with Kenny, Katjaa and their dying son) in the game when Lilly requested it? Heck, she hadn't even mentioned _Clementine _at that point either, meaning that you could just as easily have been agreeing to abandon her as well. That strikes me as being a little odd. :3

As for Kenny, you have to understand that the man still has his family out there somewhere, lost in the wilderness. Unlike Lee (who was practically broken) and Carley (who was feeling guilty and helpless), Kenny still had a clear target waiting for him out there - and that target was obviously driving him to carry on living. It's not so much that he wasn't _sad _about Clementine's death, it was more that he had bigger things on his mind. Kenny is a man who _lives _for his family and/or loved ones, and pretty much everything else in the world (including Lee &amp; Clementine) is ultimately expendable to him when it comes to his goal of protecting those he cares about most. If he had the fate of the world in one hand, and the fate of his family in another, then he would choose to save his family every single time. That's just the kind of man Kenny is. You see the way that you (and many of the others) casually forfeited the safety of Kenny &amp; Carley in order to save Clementine (and Lilly, although she seemed to be immaterial in the minds of most people)? Well, that's exactly the way that Kenny thinks, too - help who you can, but not at the expense of family. You just have to look at the whole meat locker scenario to see that Kenny has very little concern for the welfare and feelings of others when his family is in jeopardy.

He was trying to remain strong for Lee's sake (since he knew that Lee was on the verge of breaking down), while also ensuring that they all made it off of the mountain safely. I can tell that you obviously don't like Kenny very much, but try not to let it blind you to his better qualities, yeah? ;)

* * *

**Reply to ZombieSlayer995**: Yeah, I ain't afraid of courting controversy, my friend. She's a _fine _woman, is that there controversy. And yes, you're correct - this outcome _certainly _isn't going to be "all rainbows and butterflies". As for your actual theory, well ... hmm. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

Also, no constructive criticism, eh? ... Aw. I'm pretty sure that I could've picked fault with something or other in the last chapter. :P

* * *

**Reply to Guest**: Thanks. Correct characterisation has always been a bit of pet peeve of mine, to be honest. I'd argue to the _death _to defend many of my decisions (though I'll also be the first to admit when something is a personal interpretation). I often find it a trying task reading other people's fan-fiction for this self-same reason, as there's usually at least _one _thing which either bugs me, or is just flat-out wrong, hehe.

As for "Salvation Lost", I'll be talking about it a little bit more when I post the final part of this story (which will probably be tomorrow, I should think). Writing is pretty low down on my priority list at the moment, though. As an entertainer at heart, I obviously get more motivated to produce "the goods" when I've got more of an audience, and ... the first chapter of Salvation Lost received a pretty "eh" response, on the whole. Not too bad, but far from fantastic. The fact that this story has already surpassed the other's review count (despite only being three chapters in) pretty much demonstrates that fact.

So, I dunno... I'm not really too thrilled about the idea of bumping it up on my "to-do list" when my target audience is so small, y'know?

And I'm sorry if I made you cry. Funnily enough, that should actually be considered a victory for me (as a writer), but ... I'm not about to do the happy dance at your expense, haha! Hopefully you won't find this upcoming part quite so depressing. Still, as you've said, this _is _The Walking Dead that we're talking about here, and pretty much the whole point of this franchise is to depress you and play with your emotions...

You're in the wrong fan-base if you hate the idea of feeling sad. XD

* * *

**Reply to DarkStar35**: Oh, I wasn't criticising you, as such. I was more getting frustrated at myself for not balancing the choice a little more, since I already had a hunch that the current version could end up being a little too one-sided.

Also, I think that you may find yourself to be in the minority when it comes to people who would choose to save Duck over both Kenny &amp; Carley, especially if Duck was in slightly less danger than the other two. Just sayin'. ;P

Still, I hear what you're saying (about always putting the children first) and that's fine by me. That's your personal stance and there's honestly nothing wrong with it. Like I said, I wasn't really critcising you at all.

Thanks for reviewing again.

* * *

**Reply to smeake**: Hey, man, what can I say? It's The Walking Dead - not everyone you like is going to survive, y'know? Besides, Lilly is a trained military woman who just so happened to be assigned to the Air Force (meaning that she'd obviously know all about utilising your own body weight to your advantage while falling), whereas Clementine is an inexperienced, fragile, nine year-old girl. I'd have probably called bullshit on my own story-telling abilities if I'd had Clementine survive, while Lilly had plummeted to her death, haha! And I couldn't have them both live, could I? Like I said before - The Walking Dead an' all that. It's _supposed _to be depressing. :D

* * *

**Soon**: Okay, here we go. This is second of the three different outcomes for the short-story, "A Perilous Choice". If you're reading this, then that means that you've probably decided to go with the [Help Lilly] option for the previous choice ... either that, or you're merely curious about what will happen if you elect to go the opposite way instead. Maybe you weren't entirely proud of the results yesterday?

Yet again, there will be an additional choice to make later on in the chapter. And if you've taken the time to read yesterday's entry, then I'm fairly sure that you can guess what it is. ;)

This one could again prove to be a rough ride for some of you, so ... make sure that you properly prepare yourselves before diving in, won't you?

* * *

**Outcome 2: Help Lilly (&amp; Clementine)**

Lee had made his decision. Clenching his fists tightly and momentarily clamping his eyes shut, he summoned up his resolve and forced his body to move to the right, tearing off across the ledge towards Lilly &amp; Clementine's location, all caution for the stability of the ground apparently forgotten. He needed to move fast.

"Lee! What the fuck, man?!" he heard Kenny cry out from behind him, the shock and anger in his voice unmistakable. Lee felt a pang of guilt and remorse as he ran, though he refused to look back. He knew that his actions were quite possibly dooming both of them, but he simply couldn't afford to take the risk - he needed to prioritise Clementine's safety, at any cost. If he were able to do this quickly enough then maybe, _maybe_, he'd have enough time to go back for the others. That was his only hope at this point. There was nothing else that he could do. After all, Clementine's life was in danger.

He saw the relief flood Lilly's face as he raced over to help them. Tilting her head back, she whispered gently, "We're okay now, Clementine. Lee's coming to help us", to the girl, who was still dangling helplessly over the side of the cliff, the firm grip of Lilly's right hand acting as her one and only lifeline. Clementine snivelled slightly, the tears still streaming down her cheeks, but otherwise said nothing.

Lee made a desperate lunge as he reached the southern edge, fiercely latching both of his hands onto Lilly's left arm, and beginning the gruelling task of pulling them both towards safety. Thankfully, Lilly made this task slightly easier by using her feet (which were still planted into the rock face) to gain leverage, and thus improving her rate of climb.

As he was about halfway through his attempts to drag both of the ladies back onto firmer ground, Lee heard the voice of yet another lady, Carley, call out from the opposite side of the ledge. "Kenny, what's - what's happening?!"

"I'm slippin'!" Kenny gasped, clearly exhausted with the effort of maintaining his grip on the uneven surface. "I'm slip- F-Fuck!"

Lee looked worriedly back over his shoulder as he heard Kenny's sudden exclamation, and horror and sadness tore at his insides in equal measure, as he saw the rocks which Kenny had been so desperately clinging to break apart like the rest. Kenny's wild, startled eyes made contact with Lee's for just a fraction of a second, and then he was gone, vanishing into the night like the many broken pieces of rock and dirt before him.

A shout of shock and fear from Kenny was quickly drowned out by Carley's scream, as the pair of them plummeted, helpless, down the cliff face. It was a scream unlike anything that Lee had ever heard in his life - like something taken from an old-school horror movie. It was a scream of purest dread. And then it was cut abruptly short, as a loud series of crashes and bangs signalled that the falling objects had all made contact with the ground below.

Lee clamped his eyes shut for a second, trying to fend off the distressing images that his mind was painting for him - images which were probably somewhat close to the horrible truth of what had just happened to his long-time comrades. He had to focus. He needed to save the people before him first, _then_ he could try and come to terms with the probable loss of his other friends' lives.

Turning back to his current mission, Lee briefly locked eyes with Lilly (who was looking quite fearful again herself), sharing a silent confirmation with her as to what had just taken place on the opposite side of the ledge. He then put all of his remaining strength into pulling them up, digging his heels into the unstable ground at his feet as he attempted to back up. The rock which Lilly had previously been clutching snapped clean in two as he pulled them both safely onto solid ground. Lee tried his best not to entertain the idea of what might have happened had Lilly still been holding it at the time.

Finally, with a little help from Lilly herself, he succeeded in yanking both her and Clementine away from the deadly drop, the girl still clinging onto Lilly's hand with all of her might. Lilly collapsed onto all fours, digging her fingers gratefully into the earth and panting heavily, as though she had just completed a marathon run. Lee noticed that she was trembling slightly - despite how well she had appeared to keep herself together when hanging from the cliff, it was clear now that the whole ordeal had severely shaken her up. She released Clementine at last, whose left hand was now red and swollen from how tightly Lilly had been grasping her.

The girl plopped to the ground with a dull thud, peering confusedly from left to right, as though actually unable to believe that she was still alive. After taking a few seconds to get her bearings, Clementine's eyes welled up once again as they fell upon Lee, who was sitting just a few feet in front of her, panting even more heavily than Lilly was, and looking just as shaken up. Clementine's features quivered in both sadness and delight as Lee looked over at her, and before he knew it, she had hurried forwards and thrown herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

It was a moment of sheer bliss for the pair of them. Clementine was safe - Lee had saved her again. For a moment, nothing else in the world mattered to either of them. No matter what may happen next, at least they still had each other.

Lilly tried to push herself to her feet, but seemed to think better of it after realising how unsteady she still was. Instead, she allowed herself to collapse backwards into a sitting position, running both of her hands through her hair as she attempted to rediscover her composure. She glanced up at Lee and Clementine, a few feet to her right, and couldn't help but give a small, saddened smile, upon seeing the affection contained within their embrace.

As he looked at her, Lee suddenly remembered what had just happened on the opposite side of the ledge, and the moment of magic they had just experienced was shattered like a hammer onto glass. Lee released Clementine and leapt hurriedly to his feet, staggering off towards the northern side of the ledge before he'd even properly regained his balance.

"Wh-What's the matter?" Clementine murmured anxiously, looking slightly apprehensive again.

Lilly stared after Lee for a few seconds, her expression pensive, and then forced herself to her feet, motioning for Clementine to follow her with a simple, "Come on, sweetie."

As Lee approached the fractured, northern most point of the plateau, he slowed his progress, not wanting to stumble and fall on the unstable ground - a mistake that would surely result in his death. He crept as close to the edge as he dared, and then cautiously leaned forwards to scan the terrain below. His eyes locked onto something within seconds, and what he saw made his heart sink past his knees, his expression becoming that of an agonised grimace.

Lilly reached him soon after, with little Clementine hot on her heels. As soon as her eyes fell upon Lee's tormented face, Lilly instinctively threw out her left hand to keep Clementine back. The girl looked momentarily affronted, but then confusion set in as she, too, attempted to catch a glimpse of Lee's expression, hoping to discover the truth from his face alone.

After several seconds of silence (Lee's eyes seemingly fixated on whatever he had seen below), Lilly followed the man's gaze down the length of the steep drop. She immediately spotted what was causing him such pain; Carley's body was visible, some fifty or sixty feet below them - her fall having been broken by a small ledge that was poking out of the cliff face. Unfortunately for her, however, this ledge was also littered with sharp, pointed rocks, one of which had seemingly plunged straight through Carley's back as she had fallen onto it, and was now sticking gruesomely out of her abdomen. Needless to say, there was a lot of blood. Her eyes were still open too, visible even from this height, staring wide and blankly up into the starry sky above them, as though she were merely daydreaming. But there was no longer any life stirring within those dulled orbs. There was no question about it - Carley was dead.

Lilly closed her eyes briefly, biting her lip as she did so, and then looked sadly back at Lee. The man looked numb. As though all of his energy had suddenly been sapped straight from his muscles. She didn't really know what to say to him, and so she decided that silence was probably the best policy.

"What's going on?" asked Clementine from behind them, still pinned back by Lilly's arm and clearly desperate for some manner of explanation. She noticed the solemn expression on Lilly's face, then glanced at the frayed edge in front of them, and the realisation struck her like a lightning bolt. "What - No", she squeaked, more tears threatening to fall, as the truth of what had just happened to their friends suddenly hit home. "N-No!"

Lilly spared Clementine a sympathetic glance, but Lee seemed not to hear her. "…Is there any sign of Kenny?" he asked Lilly quietly, his voice rather more than constricted than usual.

"…No", Lilly replied briefly, once again joining Lee in scanning the many ledges and rocky outcrops below them. "I don't see 'im anywhere."

Lee brought his right hand up to his face, gently rubbing his eyes as he uttered a single, "Fuck", in a strained voice. He could hear that Clementine was sobbing again behind him, but she had apparently decided not to bother the two adults while they were still busy searching for their missing friends. Lee wasn't sure if he had it in him to comfort her at the moment. He wasn't sure if he even had it in him to _face _her right now. After all, they wouldn't have even been up here in the first place, were it not for his own foolish decision making. "We shouldn't have come up here", he whispered hoarsely, his voice barely audible in the blustery night-time wind.

Lilly blinked once, sympathy for the man before her plastered all over her face. And yet she didn't seem to have any comforting words on hand to offer him in response to that rather damning statement, so she once again chose the wisdom of silence, glancing off to the side instead, with her right hand now cupping her left elbow nervously.

"…You can say it if you want", mumbled Lee in a defeated voice, now removing his hand from his face, so that he could speak more freely, and fully come to terms with the mistakes that he'd made. However, when Lilly merely frowned at him questioningly, Lee added, "You told me this was a bad idea and I didn't listen to you. Now our friends are _dead_ … and it's all my fault." He hung his head in apparent shame, the weight of his own guilt now pressing down upon him.

Lilly studied his features closely, blinking rather rapidly, as she tried to decide how best to go about soothing and dismissing the man's regrets. Comforting other people had never been a strong point of hers. "You … You couldn't have known that this would happen", she muttered awkwardly, attempting to add a note of empathy and sincerity into her tender words. "I have to shoulder some of the blame as well. I mean, if I'd been a better leader to you all, then maybe I could have persuaded you not to go through with this", she added dispiritedly, clearly feeling some degree of inadequacy herself. Then she looked directly into Lee's eyes and said, "You only did what you thought was best … for all of us. I understand that. And so does Clementine."

Lee twisted his head briefly to glance at the girl behind him, the tears still wet on her face, before turning back to Lilly. He could tell that she was trying her hardest to be magnanimous about it all, which couldn't have been easy for her. He knew that Lilly would normally never pass up an opportunity to say "I told you so", and so it was a perhaps a mark of the seriousness of the situation that she was instead choosing to swallow such thoughts, presumably for his sake … as well as Clementine's. He _wanted _to allow that knowledge to help ease his own misgivings, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that he could have done more to save them. To save everyone. It seemed to him that there were so many ways that this all could have been prevented, looking back on it now.

When no words seemed forthcoming from Lee, Lilly pressed on earnestly, "Listen, there was nothing you could have done to save them. If you'd just left me and Clementine hanging there, then who _knows_ what could have happened? You _saved _her, which is all you could really do in that situation. And-", she hesitated, a sudden surge of emotion seeming to strip her of her voice momentarily. "…you saved me, too."

Lee looked up at her again. Was this gratitude he was seeing? She certainly didn't seem too happy about it. On the contrary, he had rarely seen Lilly looking so glum. Whatever it may have been, he quickly saw through her disguised attempt to paint him as some kind of hero, rather than the misguided fool that he really was.

"You didn't need my help", he muttered dismissively, giving a delicate shake of his head. "You could'a pulled yourself up any time you wanted. All you needed to do was let go of Clementine … and you'd have been fine."

Lilly's gaze slowly fell to the ground as she pondered these words, apparently evaluating their truthfulness. "…Maybe", she conceded at last. "But-", she looked into his face once more, that familiar fierceness seeming to come alive within her eyes again. "-you know that wasn't ever going to happen … don't you?"

Lee could tell, by the mere ferocity in her eyes alone, that she was effectively _daring_ him to question her integrity. And yet, he found himself wanting to do nothing of the sort. He knew all too well that she had risked her very life by attempting to save Clementine like that. He also realised that, had it not been for Lilly's speedy actions, the girl who meant so much to him would surely already be dead. "…Thank you", he said softly, genuinely feeling the sentiment that accompanied his words. "I mean it, Lilly", he added seriously. "Thank you. I'm … glad that you're here with us."

Lilly stared at him for a moment, carefully taking in the emotion beneath his words, but then blinked and looked off to the side again, as though she feared that maintaining eye contact with him for too long might actually blind her. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Don't mention it", she mumbled stiffly, brushing some dust off of her jeans - probably to give herself something to do aside from looking at Lee.

Had the circumstances been altogether different, Lee thought that he might have actually smiled at the sight. He couldn't say that he'd ever seen Lilly acting so _bashful_ before. It was a rather strange experience, in truth. However, with the weight of what had just happened still pressing down upon him like heavy rain, he was quickly robbed of his moment of mirth. He turned back towards the drop, scanning the rocks below in closer detail - although, he deliberately allowed his eyes to drift over Carley's body, as he found it was far too painful to look directly at her. "…Do you think that Kenny made it?" he asked Lilly slowly, without looking at her.

She appeared to consider him for a moment, the grave comprehension on her face clearly evident. She knew why Lee was so desperate for one of them to have survived the fall, as she herself felt similarly. Although Lilly would have hesitated in referring to either of the pair as "friends", the deaths of Carley and Kenny had still brought her absolutely no joy. Neither of them had deserved their fate. She turned her gaze towards the lower ledges as well, apparently still contemplating her answer. "…It's possible, I suppose", she admitted finally, the gentle shrug of her shoulders betraying her uncertainty. "He might have fallen somewhere out of sight. Maybe he grabbed onto one of the ledges there or something…"

"…Yeah, I guess", muttered Lee thoughtfully, feeling the slightest spark of hope rekindled inside of him. "He could be just fine, for all we know."

The desperation in his voice made Lilly cringe slightly. True, she had intended her words to give him some manner of consolation, but she didn't really want him to go getting his hopes up, either. After all, the chances of Kenny having actually survived his fall were slim at best, improbable at worst. "Yeah, but … why wouldn't he have done something to let us know that he was alright by now? I mean, he could have called out to us, at least…"

"Well, maybe he was chased off by something before he got the chance."

"Chased off by wha-?" Lilly's question died in her throat. She had heard it - they had _all_ heard it - the ominous groans of the dead, sounding out across the vast forest below them. The sound of the rocks tumbling down the cliff face seemed to have echoed off into the surrounding trees, and thus alerted their rotting pursuers to the presence of a potential meal at the summit.

The walkers were on the move.

"…We should move", said Lilly swiftly, her wild eyes darting restlessly over the darkened landscape below, as she attempted to discern just how many of the undead were now on their way up to them - although, such an estimate was obviously impossible to make from this height. "_Now._"

"But … what about Kenny?" Lee's question was hesitant.

Lilly gave a slightly impatient shrug in response. "Look, if he _did _make it, then the first thing he'd do is try and find a way off this rock. We can always meet up with him later..."

Lee could tell that Lilly was humouring him, but he nodded his agreement with the plan all the same. After all, what good would staying here do now? Besides potentially getting them all trapped and killed by the approaching walkers? Even _if_ Kenny was still alive, surely he would be sensible enough to head _down_ the cliff, rather than up again?

The guttural moans of the walking dead were growing ever closer - now was not really the time to be lost in thought. It was time for decisive action. Snapping himself out of his reverie, Lee summoned up what little focus remained in his weary mind and turned, wrenching his eyes away from the drop, and the place where Carley's body still lay, motionless, some distance below them. He put a tender arm on Clementine's right shoulder, guiding her towards their only known escape route with a simple, "Come on, Clem."

Lilly watched the pair of them go, then took one last sombre look back down the cliff. As she made to leave, however, she caught sight of a sudden movement out of the corner of her eye. She immediately did a double take, thinking of Kenny, but then felt all of the remaining air get sapped from her lungs by the terrible sight before her.

Carley was moving again. However, these were not the jolting, pained movements of a living woman impaled upon a spike, but instead the sluggish, clumsy movements that Lilly saw every night in her dreams. She had become one of _them_. Her brain had obviously not been damaged by the fall and the resulting impact against the rocks, and so she had reanimated.

Her arms flailed pointlessly against the rock which had impaled her - a rock which she had no strength to free herself from. A gentle moan escaped Carley's throat, as she continued pounding against the rock in a repetitive motion, her eyes glazed over and unseeing, fresh blood still dripping from her mouth, which was now hanging slightly agape. It was a pathetic sight, in truth. Lilly tore her eyes away from the scene, unable to bear anymore. She may not have particularly liked the woman, but Lilly would not have wished this fate on _anyone_ \- not even her most hated enemies.

"Wait! What about Ben?" She heard Clementine whimper from somewhere close by.

"Clem, hold on! I told you not to run off like that", came Lee's rather stern reply. Then she caught the sound her own name instead, "Lilly! Are you comin' or not? We're _supposed_ to be in a hurry here, remember?" He sounded impatient, and there was even a note of accusation present in his tone ... not that Lilly could really blame him, after all that had just happened. Even so, it wasn't like she was dawdling for no reason…

"Y-Yeah, I'll be there in a sec", Lilly called back to him hesitantly, her mind clearly still reeling from what she had just witnessed. Her eyes gave one last sweep of the lower ledges, apparently still looking for Kenny - though perhaps more in hope than expectation - and then she, too, turned on her heel and stalked off after her companions, the feeble groans of Carley's now-active corpse following her as she went. She suspected that they would continue to follow her for some time to come…

As she wandered over towards the others, she noticed that they were now standing over by the fallen rock formation, rather than the mountain trail that they were set to use as their getaway. "Ben! _Ben!" _Clementine was saying frantically, her tiny hands now placed on the boy's back, as she shook him with all of her might.

Noticing the troubled expression on Lilly's face, Lee said, "What's wrong?", and then, in a slightly more apprehensive tone, "What did you see down there?"

Lilly didn't answer Lee immediately, but merely shifted her stance awkwardly on the spot. "…No. It's nothing", she said dismissively, eventually finding her voice again. "I didn't see anything. I was just taking one last sweep, that's all."

One glance up at Lee's face told Lilly that he wasn't entirely convinced by her lie, but she wasn't about to elaborate any further. No good could possibly come from giving him such information. There was simply no need for Lee to know about that right now. In fact, he'd probably be happier if he never found out about it at all. Yes, she thought. Perhaps she would just keep it to herself…

"Lee!" Clementine exclaimed suddenly. "Lee, come quick! I - I think he's still alive!"

"He's just unconscious, sweet pea", Lee assured her soothingly. "And we'll have to get some o' these rocks off of 'im before we can even _think _about gettin' him up…"

Clementine had already begun her desperate attempt to free Ben's legs, hurriedly pushing both of her hands against the larger rocks which held him prisoner. "C'mon, Lee! Help me move them! We've gotta get him out!"

Lilly glanced down at the teenager's unconscious form, considering him intently. Her expression wasn't exactly what you would call forgiving, however. "Why bother?" she said finally, causing both Lee &amp; Clementine's heads to turn abruptly in her direction. "He's only going to slow us down, anyway", she concluded evenly, seeming entirely unabashed by the harsh nature of her comments.

"What?" whispered Clementine in a scared little voice. "L-Lilly? What - What are you saying?"

Lee merely frowned, apparently doing some thinking of his own. And it was to him that Lilly turned as she added seriously, "We're in bad enough shape here as it is. If the three of us make a break for it now, together, then we've got a shot. But if we have to bring _him_-", she tossed her head in Ben's direction, "-with us? Well … let's just say that I wouldn't fancy our chances."

"That - That isn't true!" Clementine wailed, becoming upset at the very _suggestion _of abandoning a friend in need. "We can all make it together, if we try! I - I know we can!"

Lilly merely stared at the girl sadly and said nothing, and so Clementine turned her pleading eyes onto her guardian instead. "Lee, please! We _can't_ just leave him here! He'll - he'll _die _without us!"

Lee blinked rather rapidly, and Lilly could see that he was yet again struggling to come to a decision. Leaning in towards him, she said, "Look, we have to be practical here. Are you really willing to risk our lives - _her life _\- just to save _this_ fuck-up?" She shot another venomous glance down at Ben. "He's the one responsible for us losing the others in the first place! This was his doing, Lee. _He _caused the rockslide. Is that really the kind of person you want to have by your side?"

"B-But he didn't mean to, though", Clementine protested, her high-pitched squeak at the midway point between anger and distress. "He was only trying to help, Lee, you _know_ he was! Ben's … Ben's a good person."

Both Lilly and Lee glanced at each other at the same time. It had always been hard to refuse the child, especially when she put on a passionate defence like this. Lilly could see that Lee's head was already being swayed by the girl's words, and she honestly couldn't blame him - even _she _was starting to second guess herself now. She cleared her throat and bent down to Clementine's level, "No one's saying that he's a bad guy, Clem. He just-"

Clementine cut across her, tears in her eyes. "Then _why _won't you help him, Lilly? Why do you want him to die?"

"I don't want him to-", Lilly began, but then she broke off, scratching her head irritably. Trying to explain this to a child was so difficult, especially a child as good-natured and loving as Clementine was. "Look, sometimes we have to make tough decisions, sweetie. It's a part of surviving in this world now. Nobody's saying that you have to like it, you just have to accept that that's the way things have gotta be-"

"NO!" screamed Clementine fiercely, taking both Lilly and Lee by surprise. Lilly looked as shocked as if she'd just seen Clementine bite the head off of a live rabbit. "That's just an excuse!" Clementine continued boldly. "Admit it - you're just too scared to help him!"

Lilly's face drained of what little colour it had left. She felt as though Clementine had just driven a knife into her chest. She closed her eyes and swallowed bitterly, then rose back to her full height, her expression towards the girl souring somewhat.

Clementine turned to Lee once more. "You're gonna help him, right, Lee? You're not afraid! ... A-Are you?"

Lee grimaced slightly, then looked towards Lilly for some additional input. She turned her piercing eyes on him and hissed fiercely, "If we take him, he's gonna be nothing more than _dead weight_, and you know it. The boy can't even _move _right now, for Christ's sake. How are the two of us supposed to protect _both _of them, on top of protecting ourselves? …Be smart about this, Lee."

Clementine's eyes squinted suspiciously, as she strained her ears to try and make out what Lilly had just said, but to no avail. She shot Lilly another resentful glare, before turning her large, saddened eyes onto Lee again, uttering tearfully, "Lee, _please_, don't do this… I know that Ben messed up, but that doesn't mean that he deserves to die. He'll be all alone up here…"

Lee looked from one face to the other - Clementine, standing with her hands cupped together and her eyes upon his face, nervous and pleading; Lilly, her right hand now resting impatiently on her hip, frowning at Lee in a calculating manner, as though trying to deduce which decision he was about to make, before he had even made it. Lee allowed his gaze to fall back towards the unconscious boy at their feet, thinking hard. He had heard both Clementine's soulful pleas for mercy, as well as Lilly's cold, but reasoned argument, and now the only question was … which one was he going to listen to?

* * *

**Take Ben**

* * *

Lee's chest expanded momentarily as he drew breath, and then contracted again as he released it into the night-time air. "It's okay, Clem", he reassured her, bending down to aid the young girl in her faltering efforts to shift some of the heavier rocks that were pinning Ben's feet to the floor. "Of course we're gonna help him."

Clementine simply _beamed_ at him, the tears still shining in her eyes. She nodded happily, then quickly busied herself with the task at hand, assisting Lee as much as her small muscles would allow. Lilly, however, averted her eyes from their efforts entirely, releasing a powerful blast of air through her nostrils to indicate her displeasure at Lee's decision. "This is so fucking stupid…" she muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, well it's happenin'", said Lee flatly. "So deal with it."

Lilly's expression became grim and distasteful at this - almost like she'd just thrown up in her mouth and been forced to swallow the sick again. "…If she dies, then this is on _your_ head", she whispered harshly, as Clementine looked nervously from one adult to the other.

Lee paused for a moment, his breathing becoming suddenly shallow. He blinked twice, then forced down the anger that had just flared up inside of him. Now was not the time for petty squabbling, after all.

As he succeeded in flinging the final few rocks away from Ben's legs - and thus, freeing him - Lee hoisted the youth partway out of the rubble with a pained grunt of effort, then turned to Lilly once again, now sweating profusely, and said irritably, "You gonna give me a hand here or not?"

He saw Lilly's haughty eyes flash in his direction, briefly glancing him up and down. Her somewhat sedated expression, along with her complete inaction, already told Lee all that he needed to know, but Lilly decided to give him verbal confirmation anyway, uttering unashamedly, "I'm not willing to put my life at risk for him", her frigid aura remaining firmly in place as she did so.

"…Fine", grumbled Lee darkly, as he pulled Ben safely out of the rubble by himself.

It wasn't going to be easy to carry him down the mountainside, he had to admit. Just holding the boy's unconscious body upright like this was already exhausting the limited strength reserves that Lee had left. Ben was by no means a body builder, but he was very long and lanky, which made it awkward to support his weight evenly. It would certainly have been an easier task with another person here to assist him though, he thought sullenly, shooting Lilly an irritated glance out of the corner of his eye. She seemed to be completely unmoved by events, however. He also knew better than to think that he could guilt-trip her into helping. Once Lilly had made her mind up about something, it was always incredibly difficult to get her to shift her stance on the matter, sometimes even by a single iota. Even when she did reluctantly agree to go along with other people's plans, she rarely ever stopped truly believing that her original stance was the correct one … and the fact that she had been right, about it being far too dangerous for them to all come up here during night-time hours, had surely only served to reinforce this immense self-belief in her own her decision-making abilities.

"Can - Can I help?" asked Clementine uncertainly, holding out her hands behind Ben, as Lee started to drag the teen towards the mountain trail, perhaps because she intended to try and catch him, should he fall.

"No, honey. You just stay close to Lilly, alright?" Lee managed to grunt, in between the large breaths he was drawing every time that he shifted Ben forwards slightly.

"Oh. O-Okay…"

Finally, Lee managed to single-handedly drag Ben over to their planned escape route. Then he paused for a moment, partly to regain his breath before starting the daunting descent, and partly because he needed time to think this all through. With Ben weighing him down, he would - at best - only have one free hand to fend off the walkers with. Clementine, while incredibly smart and brave for her age, was also small and powerless. She would be unable to defend herself for long, were she to get attacked, and he would be unable to defend _her_, while also having to take care of Ben's well-being, on top of his own. He had to admit that Lilly may have had a point, as hard as that was for him to accept right now…

Lilly then arrived on the scene, having been slowly bringing up the rear, and Lee could tell by her expression that she was still distinctly unamused by the whole charade. She peered down the mountain side, glancing first to the left, and then to the right. She didn't seem too keen to lock eyes with Lee, however.

The calls of the undead were getting louder, and so much clearer now, as the terrifying creatures made their way clumsily towards the base of the rocky structure. Clementine was starting to look panicked again now, her breathing picking up pace as her frightened eyes darted about in their sockets. "H-How are we gonna get through them all?" she asked shakily, clearly trying to keep her high-pitched voice calm, but failing miserably. "Th-There are so _many _of them…"

"Hey!" Lee called to her, harsh and sudden. "Look at me…" She did as she was told, and his voice became far softer as he said, "No else is gonna die today. You hear me?"

Clementine's scared eyes traversed his features, clearly searching for comfort that his words could not give her. Any hope that he'd had of successfully consoling the girl was ruined a second later, however, as Lilly uttered dryly, "…Except maybe us", from somewhere behind him. Clementine flinched in fright, and then turned her terrified gaze onto Lilly instead, as though hoping that she would cry "April Fools" or something.

Lee clamped his eyes shut tight, praying for patience. He could understand why Lilly was angry, but her current attitude was only serving to make a bad situation even worse. He knew that shouting her down or attempting to issue commands would be futile, though. This _was _Lilly, after all … if it had been anyone else, he might have had a shot. But this was serious. He needed Lilly on side. Without her, he and Clementine would both be completely fucked, and he knew it. He turned his head purposefully in her direction, wanting her to know that his eyes were upon her.

She continued to stare stubbornly in the opposite direction for several more seconds, before it became impossible her to avoid looking at him any longer, and so she reluctantly met his gaze. "…I told you, I'm not going to help you carry him", she stated coldly, apparently misinterpreting Lee's silent plea. "It wasn't _my_ decision to bring him along. I'm not about to let you drag me down with the ship, Lee."

"I'm not asking you to", said Lee tolerantly. "This was my choice, and I'm gonna have to live with the consequences. I fully accept that."

"…Then what's with the guilt-trip?" Lilly asked bluntly, gesturing impatiently with her right hand.

"You-", said Lee seriously, pointing the index finger of his free hand at Lilly. "-keep her-", he now pointed towards Clementine instead. "-_safe_. Got it? I won't be able to look after both her and Ben, so this job falls to _you_." He looked at her gravely. "Can you handle that?"

He hoped that by questioning her ability to keep Clementine safe, he could perhaps taunt her into helping him. He knew that it was a pointless affair, however. Lilly wasn't the type to fall for cheap tricks like that. If she was going to help him, she would do so regardless. And if she refused, then there wasn't much that he could do about it. Nevertheless, he summoned up as much sincerity as he could muster, trying to convey the sheer desperation behind his request.

Lilly took a good few seconds to consider him, seeming to _drink in_ the passion on his face for a moment. He could tell that she was thinking hard, but he hadn't the faintest clue what her thoughts might entail. Her expression was almost completely passive - she could be a real enigma at times, this woman.

"…You don't have to worry about that", she said finally, her tone low and heavy, which sent a slight tingle up his spine. "I'll keep you _and _her safe", she glanced meaningfully at Clementine, and then back at Lee again as she added quietly, "I swear it."

Lee stared at her, surprised. In truth, her passion had caught him completely off guard. He hadn't expected _that_ at all. However, it hadn't completely escaped his attention that _Ben _had once again been excluded from the list of people she was willing to protect - no surprises there, at least. Nevertheless, he returned the fierceness of her gaze, as he once again uttered a profound, "Thank you."

Lilly nodded her head once, then turned to stare at Clementine instead. The girl gave her a shaky little smile, clearly feeling guilty for the things she had said to the woman earlier on. Lilly put a strong hand on her small shoulder and drew the girl towards her, saying firmly, "_You_, stay close."

"U-Uh-huh."

Lee smiled slightly at the sight, feeling his jaw ache from the strain of it. Such a simple act, and yet it felt so foreign to him now. It would probably be a while before he'd feel comfortable smiling again…

"Alright", he said bracingly, turning around and lowering Ben onto the platform below - the boy's body collapsing into a heap, like a ragdoll, as he hit the ground. "Let's go!" Lee clambered down after him.

"Come on", said Lilly, grabbing Clementine around the midriff and quite effortlessly picking her up. She handed the girl down to Lee, then swiftly jumped down herself, her heavy boots crashing against the solid rock with a thump.

In truth, Lee was dreading what was to come. He would have been a fool not to be, really. He knew that Lilly was an extremely capable individual, but was she really capable of keeping two, maybe even _three_, people safe, as well as herself? He supposed he was about to find out. And _if _things were to go bad down there, would she fight with them until the end, or would she simply flee and save herself? She had given him her word, but … well, he wasn't sure what to think anymore. What would he do, if his decision to bring Ben along cost someone their life? What if it was Lilly? What if it was Clementine? How would he even go about _trying _to cope with such a nightmare scenario?

He thought of Carley, speared upon a rock - her cold, dead eyes staring at a sky they could no longer see. He thought of Kenny, conspicuous by his absence, possibly still living, possibly dead … or possibly even somewhere in-between.

…No, was his final thought. He wouldn't be forced to watch anymore of his companions die this night. Any of them. Because he would fight with every last breath in his body to make sure that what remained of this group survived this. Carley may be gone, and Kenny may be missing, but he still had Lilly … and he still had Clementine by his side. He would _die_ before seeing his own hands smeared with anymore of their blood.

And with this promise acting as his guide, his hampered stride seemed to strengthen, dragging Ben's limp form along in his wake, as he made his way purposefully down towards the battle that awaited them below.

* * *

**Leave Ben**

* * *

Lee's chest expanded momentarily as he drew breath, and then contracted again as he released it into the night-time air. "Come on, Clem", he uttered finally, reaching out to gently lay his hand on the girl's left shoulder. "It's time to go…"

Lilly, having realised which decision Lee had made, drew a steady breath in through her nostrils. She then nodded her head ever-so-slightly, before averting her eyes again completely.

"H-Huh?" stammered Clementine, confused and afraid. "But … but Ben-?"

"There's just no time, sweet pea", said Lee bracingly, knowing fully well how difficult it was going to be to try and explain this decision to her young and innocent mind. "We've gotta go…"

"But he's right here!" Clementine pleaded tearfully. "We can help him! We can help him _together_!"

"Look, Clem, sometimes you've just gotta look at the bigger picture, okay?" said Lee quietly, bending down, as Lilly had before him, to try and communicate with the girl better. "It's like Lilly says, honey - this is for the good of _all_ of us."

"All of _who_?" Clementine demanded accusingly, her tone becoming steadily more hysterical with every word spoken. "Not Ben! He needs our help and you're turning your backs on him! That's not what friends do! Friends look after each other! Friends _forgive _each other!"

Lee looked absolutely powerless before Clementine's tirade, his wide eyes clearly displaying both his pain and his regret at having to go against the child's wishes. Lilly, now watching the back-and-forth closely, decided to step in again - Lee obviously required some help with this one. "We're not doing this because we want to, Clementine", she explained, trying to keep her voice as tender as possible, given her previous exchange with the girl. "We're doing this because we _have_ to. Lee's just trying to protect you."

Clementine shot Lilly another tearful glare, then turned back to Lee with resentment in her young eyes. "You told me that you weren't bad, Lee."

"I - I'm not, Clem. I promise", said Lee hopelessly, stuttering slightly, as he noted the contempt in Clementine's voice. She'd never looked at him like this before. "I just-"

"Then why are you doing bad things?!" Clementine shouted angrily, all the while trying to prevent the tears in her eyes from falling, but rapidly losing said battle. Lee reached out a gentle hand to try and comfort her, but she shrugged him off in a tearful rage, viciously pushing his hand away with her own. She gave him one last reproachful look, and then stormed off past him on her way back towards their getaway trail, the tears now streaming down her face in earnest.

Lee was momentarily frozen in place, his outstretched arm still hovering where Clementine had rejected his act of compassion. He blinked back his discomfort, drawing said hand up to run it over his short hair in frustration. That conversation had not gone at _all_ how he had intended it to go. He slowly rose back to his full height, his body now aching like a man twice his age. He took a moment to try and gather his thoughts, then looked to Lilly again for guidance. What he was hoping that she would say or do to console him, however, even he didn't really know…

Lilly studied his face carefully, taking in all of the unease and the regret that resided there. She released a weary sigh, and then gave a rather hopeless shrug of her shoulders, saying shortly, "There's nothing to be done. Let's just get out of here, while we still can."

Lee nodded his consent and, without even feeling sure what he was doing, he turned and walked with her, as the pair of them headed off after Clementine. The girl was waiting for them over by the exit, and her despairing sobs were still carrying over to them quite clearly on the night-time air. She looked absolutely distraught. Lee hated to see her like this. He hadn't even realised that she had grown so attached to Ben. Then again, Lee thought gloomily, Clementine had a tendency to grow attached to everyone. That was just the kind of girl she was…

"I don't even have the slightest idea how to go about explaining this to her", Lee admitted quietly, causing Lilly's eyes to flick in his direction as they walked.

"...She'll understand why you did it ... eventually", Lilly reassured him, her voice no more than the hoarsest whisper. "Yeah, she might be pissed at us for a while, but … This is just the world that we live in now. And you have to adapt if you want to survive out here." Lilly shook her head sadly, clearly trying to rid herself of some unwanted feelings of her own. "She'll learn. In time", she continued solemnly. "…She'll have to, if she wants to gain the tools that she needs in order to live through this."

Lee watched her glumly as she spoke, thinking over her words. Perhaps she was right, but that didn't make the overall sentiment any easier to accept. As Lilly had said, this was not something that Lee had _wanted _to do at all. He merely felt like it was something that _needed_ to be done, if the three of them were going to be able to make it out of this alive. A calculated sacrifice … And one which made Lee's insides clench painfully with guilt. He didn't feel that he was cut out for making these kinds of decisions.

"I just hope that we're doin' the right thing", he uttered finally, his fears creeping out of his mouth, uninvited.

"…Yeah, me too", said Lilly in a small, remorseful voice. Lee looked at her rather suddenly. So, _she_ was questioning the wisdom of this decision as well, was she? Lilly always seemed so assured to Lee - her various opinions and stances so set in stone - that it shocked him a little, to see these apparent insecurities seeping out of her. Noticing Lee's reaction, Lilly frowned accusingly at the man and added sharply, "What?"

"Nothing", said Lee hastily, breaking the eye contact between them, for fear of being burned by her gaze. "I just … thought that this is what you wanted, that's all."

"What kind of _monster_ do you take me for, Lee?" hissed Lilly dangerously. "Who would _enjoy_ something like this?"

"That wasn't what I was-", Lee began awkwardly, but then he cut himself off with a sigh of his own. He tried to compose himself before speaking again. He didn't really need to go upsetting _both _of the women in his life … especially as they were all that he had left now. "Look, I'm sorry, alright?" he mumbled apologetically, his despondency clearly distinguishable in both his voice and his expression. "I shouldn't have…"

He shook his head, his voice tailing away into nothingness.

Lilly observed him with one eyebrow raised. Apparently, she had been steeling herself for yet another argument, and so had been entirely unprepared for his apology. Sympathy mingled with a twinge of guilt, as she lowered her head and said, "It's fine, Lee. I'm … I'm sorry, too. Things are just … difficult right now, y'know?"

Yes, thought Lee, as he looked over at Clementine again, who was now frantically rubbing her eyes to try and rid herself of her tears. Things certainly _were _difficult right now.

"And for what it's worth", Lilly pressed on, thus directing Lee's attention back onto her again. "I meant what I said to Clem back there. I don't really have anything against the kid." Then she shrugged and added. "This is just something that had to happen, that's all."

Lee wanted to believe that. He wanted to be able to accept that their decision was made out of necessity, rather than any kind of lasting grudge against the boy, but … Clementine's reaction was making such a notion that much harder to adopt and abide by. Nevertheless, he nodded slowly at Lilly's statement, as the pair of them finally caught up with Clementine at last. The girl looked utterly miserable, and she didn't so much as _glance_ at either of her adult companions as they arrived. It made Lee's heart ache to see her giving him the cold shoulder like this. He really didn't need to be dealing with this right now, if truth be told. He had quite enough guilt and regrets to contend with as it was.

He knew that he had to be gentle and kind with her, however. The girl was already seeing a darker side of him that he would rather not have displayed for her, and the last thing that he wanted was to frighten her, or else drive her away even further.

"Come on, sweet pea", he said softly, offering her his hand again, so as to help her down to the ledge below them. "It's time to go now."

Clementine merely sniffed at this, still biting back further tears. She looked torn between two different extremes - sadness and resentment - and couldn't seem to decide which of the two she would rather display towards her guardian. She then seemed to settle for gazing past Lee instead, back to where they had come from … towards Ben. He could see her large, round eyes shaking with suppressed emotion.

"Look, may - maybe Ben will catch up to us later on", Lee invented wildly, knowing full-well that he was talking utter nonsense, but still desperately trying to find _some _way of getting the girl back on side. "We can try and lead the walkers away from here. Maybe give 'im at shot at making it, y'know?"

He smiled hopefully, trying to convey some modicum of warmth and comfort for the girl. Doing so wasn't easy, however, as Lee himself was experiencing no such feelings in earnest. Clementine locked eyes with him momentarily, and he found it extremely difficult to maintain the eye contact - he hated giving the girl false hope. Instead, he looked to Lilly for some back up. Maybe they could convince her together. "I-Isn't that right, Lilly?"

Lilly started. Apparently, she hadn't expected to be asked her opinion on such a foolish masquerade. She hesitated slightly before muttering, "Uh… Y-Yeah", and then turned to stare awkwardly off in the opposite direction again, adding only, "…Maybe."

Lee snapped his eyes shut tight, resisting the urge to slap his own forehead in exasperation. If he'd known that Lilly was such a terrible liar, then he wouldn't have sought her help on the matter in the first place. She was even worse than _he _was at telling fibs, and that in itself was an achievement. He took a deep breath, then turned back to Clementine to gauge her reaction. Sure enough, she didn't seem to have been taken in by their deception at all - her suspicious eyes travelling from one guilty face to the next. And who could honestly blame her? That little farce would probably have failed to fool your average five year-old, never mind a child as clever and astute as Clem was.

Deciding that the game was up, Lee threw caution to the wind and tried one last, desperate tactic. "Ben would _want _us to go, Clem. He wouldn't want us to die for his sake. You … You know that, right?"

In truth, this was almost certainly yet another bare-faced lie. Lee was fairly sure that Ben wouldn't have wanted to be left behind _at all_, under any circumstances, but … hopefully Clementine wouldn't work that out. She certainly seemed to be considering Lee's words at least, her eyes searching his tired and desperate face for some sign of sincerity.

"We're not bad people, Clem", Lilly chipped in from Lee's right. "We're just … trying to survive. And sometimes, that means having to do things that we don't really want to do."

Clementine glanced first at Lilly, pausing briefly to take in her saddened expression, and then turned back to Lee, who determinedly met her sombre gaze with one of his own, his heart feeling heavy and weak. Then her head dropped to stare at her own feet instead, and he saw her give a shaky, despairing little nod.

And so the deed was done.

"Okay, Clem", Lee murmured quietly, his tone one of understanding. "Let's get you out of here." He offered her his hand for the third time, and this time she took it, though only after a moment's hesitation. Lee lifted her up, and then helped to guide her down onto the level below, taking care that she didn't accidentally catch herself on any of the rocks. As he straightened up again, he turned to Lilly to see that she was now readjusting the strap of the rifle on her shoulders, presumably trying to make the gun easier to access when needed. It was a welcome sign, as her expert marksmanship was sure to be needed in the battle to come. "You good?" Lee enquired of her watchfully.

Lilly nodded her head, but then instantly contradicted herself by uttering, "Not really", which caught Lee slightly off guard. Talk about the art of misdirection. She then moved to remedy this a moment later, however, by adding, "But let's do this", her expression now set and determined, her face as hard as stone.

Taking confidence from her steel and resolve, Lee clenched his own fists tight, and then jumped down to the next level after Clementine, with Lilly soon to follow him.

The trip down the mountain would be treacherous, and the fight against the walkers after that would no doubt be even worse. He had lost Carley this night, and Kenny might be dead as well, for all he knew. He had also just chosen to sacrifice Ben, no more than a boy himself, so that they could all stand the best chance of living through this. And yet, despite all of this heart ache and guilt that was swelling within of him, the light of hope was still burning strong inside of Lee's chest.

_Clementine was alive_. Her young life had almost been snatched from his grasp tonight, and yet he had managed to drag both her and Lilly back from the abyss, with his own two hands. Despite the sadness and the regret that was still threatening to overpower him from within, he could at least take pride in that fact - his main reason for continuing to live was still here beside him, and wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Not if he could help it, at least.

He looked again towards Lilly, who met his gaze unflinchingly. She was ready. He then looked down at Clementine, who glanced at him nervously, as the groans of the undead grew steadily louder beneath them. He smiled at her sadly, closing his right hand tenderly around her left shoulder, in an attempt to ease her fears.

Whatever was about to happen next, Lee knew at least one thing for sure - that girl was going to make it through this. And if he had to fight until his last breath to make that desire become a reality, then so be it. But Clementine was _going _to survive.

And with his heart and mind now set on this singular goal, Lee slowly drew out his gun from the back of his jeans, as he and his two remaining companions continued their descent towards the approaching horde.

* * *

**Soon**: Yo! ... And that's what happens if you choose to help Lilly instead of Kenny - Lilly &amp; Clementine are both still fit and firing (in Lilly's case, at least), but poor old Carley has now died and reanimated. Kenny is now MIA (a status he is well accustomed to, of course), and could just as easily be dead as alive. Nobody knows!

This one actually turned out slightly longer than expected (both Clementine &amp; Lilly needed to be talked round if you chose to side against them with the Ben decision, after all), and has now easily become my longest single chapter to date. Wow... This was a big one, wasn't it?

So, keeping in with what I was saying yesterday - how do all of you who made this choice feel about it now? I mean, I would assume that you knew full well coming into this what to expect (I made it quite clear that both Kenny &amp; Carley were likely fucked if you left them hanging there), so ... satisfied? Any regrets? Or are you just relieved that you chose the option which allowed you to keep Clementine alive?

And what about the Ben decision? ... Yeah, it was a little bit trickier this time (with Clementine involved), wasn't it? I had a lot of fun writing that part, as the contrast between Clementine's and Lilly's view points was so stark, but both also produced a pretty convincing case for their defence as well, don't you think? Question is - which one did _you _listen to? And how did you feel about the reaction of your two remaining companions to your choice? Lemme know, won't ya?

Now comes the part where I trample all over the tragedy produced in the chapter above with yet _another _set of Skits - two, to be precise. Take a look...

* * *

**Skit 5 (Speaking Walker)**

**Lilly**: *peering over the edge of the cliff*

**Walker-Carley**: *gurgling moan*

**Lilly**: "…What did you just say to me?"

**Walker-Carley**: *series of rasping coughs*

**Lilly**: "Say that one more time. I fucking _dare _you!"

**Walker-Carley**: "blood bubble forms*

**Lilly**: "Oh, you did _not_ just-"

**Walker-Carley**: *blood bubble pops*

**Lilly**: "…Alright, that does it. I'm going down there. She's not gonna get away with saying shit like that to me!"

**Clementine**: "Wow… I didn't know that Lilly could speak the walker's language."

**Lee**: "Neither did I. Uh ... Lilly? Hey, Lilly! Where are you goin'?"

**Lilly**: "To give that little scamp a piece of my mind! You two wait here!"

**Lee**: *sighs*

*Kenny suddenly levitates into view*

**Lee**: "…What the fuck?"

**Kenny**: "Hey, guys! Check it out! Looks like I have the ability to float in mid-air. Who'da thunk it, huh?"

**Clementine**: "That's so _cool_, Kenny!" :D

**Kenny**: "It sure is, darlin'. It _sure_ is."

**Lilly**: "Hmph. See, Lee? Didn't I always tell you that he was full of hot air?"

**Kenny**: "Ah, you're jus' jealous!"

**Lilly**: "Like hell I am!"

**Kenny**: "Oh, yeah? Do _you _have the power of flight, Lilly?"

**Lilly**: "I-"

**Kenny**: "_Do ya_?"

**Lilly**: "…No." :(

**Kenny**: "Well, then. Quit wit' the sour grapes, will ya?"

**Walker-Carley**: *lengthy wheezing noise*

**Lilly**: "Oh, she is _so _dead when I get down there! ... Uh … y'know … more than she already is, I mean."

**Lee**: "…I don't even know what's going on anymore."

* * *

**Skit 6 (Fluffy)**

**Clementine**: *bites the head off of a live rabbit, then spits it out onto the ground*

**Lilly**: *dramatic gasp* ... "FLUFFY, _NOOOOOOOO~!_"

**Lee**: "What the-? Where the hell did that rabbit come from all of a sudden?"

**Lilly**: "H-He was my bunny..." ToT

**Lee**: "Man... Clementine, now look what you've gone and done - you killed Lilly's pet rabbit."

**Clementine**: "I don't care! _She's _trying to kill my pet Ben!

**Lilly**: "Fine, you know what? I'm biting _his_ head off too! Fair is fair!"

**Clementine**: "No! You stay away from him, you bully!"

**Lee**: "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Now, hold on a minute, Lilly..."

**Ben**: *groans and wakes up* "Lee? Cl-Clem? Wha - What's going on?"

**Clementine**: "Ben, RUN! Lilly's trying to _eat_ you!"

**Ben**: *depressed sigh* "...Somehow, I always knew that this day would come."

**Lee &amp; Clem: **"...Huh?"

**Lilly**: "You bet your ass it was gonna - ... wait, _what_?"

* * *

**Soon**: Hyuk hyuk hyuk! Will Ben get his head bitten off? Will Lilly really get to give Walker-Carley a piece of her mind? Will we ever get the answer to these questions?! ... No. No, we won't.

Just one last part to go now. Tomorrow will be dedicated to all of you who are in the "I CAN'T CHOOSE! DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE!" club, so look forward to that. I ain't promising a happy ending, but parts of it should certainly make for interesting reading, at least. I'll also be wrapping the whole thing up by talking about these choices and their consequences (as well as how and why I designed this story) in a little greater detail, which will hopefully serve to inspire a little debate among the readers.

See you tomorrow, guys.


	5. No Decision

**Soon: **Ah, man. Last chapter somehow ended up being the lowest reviewed chapter of the story so far. How on earth did _that _happen? I thought y'all wanted to save Clementine, huh? Well, I just granted your wish, didn't I? Come on, guys! You should've been happy to see little Clem safe and sound.

Perhaps I'll simply assume (for my own peace of mind) that not everyone has read the chapter yet, rather than it being a case of me failing to live up to any expectations that you all may have had of me. ;)

* * *

**Reply to ZombieSlayer995: **Ah, so Clementine changed your mind about Ben, did she? Because I believe I recall you saying that you would have left Ben for the Carley &amp; Kenny outcome, right? That's pretty interesting...

"Also, Clementine's guilt trip is just brutal." - Yes, Clem's guilt-tripping powers are unmatched throughout the land. Even Lilly's stubborn resolve was shaken there for a split second. XD

As for continuing on after this chapter ... nah, that's unlikely. This story was specially designed to be a three-piece event (with the reader getting to choose their own individual ending), so I see no point in carrying on any further, even though I would agree that most (if not all) of the outcomes could quite easily pass for the beginning of some greater adventure.

However, the thing is ... what you're suggesting right there is basically what Salvation Lost is eventually going to become (minus the choice aspect, of course). So, I can't very well have two different stories that both feature cross-country adventures of the season 1 characters, can I? Even if I tried my best to distinguish the two somehow, they'd eventually end up being somewhat similar, regardless, which isn't really an appealing prospect to me. Why write two extremely similar stories when you can just focus all of your creativity on making one of them truly great, y'know?

Still, I appreciate your input, man. It's nice to know what the readers would like to see ... even if I'm too stubborn to actually listen to 'em most of the time, haha!

* * *

**Reply to santiagoponcini20: **... *deep breath* ... THANK YOU!

So your group now consists of Lee, Lilly, Clem &amp; Ben, does it? How d'you feel about that outcome? Are you satisfied? Do you reckon that they're in good shape to survive? Do you believe that Lee can keep Lilly on side? I'm merely curious to know your thoughts, is all...

* * *

**Reply to smeake: **Hey, thanks a lot. Coming from someone who apparently hates Lilly, it's nice to know that my writing is still engrossing enough for you to enjoy a chapter where Lilly was featured heavily throughout. Or are you simply happy that Kenny wasn't pronounced dead on the scene? ;P

Also, you didn't say what you would have done with the Ben choice, man. Are you going to be bringin' him along with your merry little band or not?

Oh, and "Soon" will be fine, if you feel the need to refer to me in your reviews at any point. When I first saw the letters "STA" I was like - "Who the hell's that?" - hahaha!

* * *

**Reply to leafs nation: **That sounded like a Kenny-esque apology right there ... just so you know. Haha!

And did you _seriously _just review the "Help Lilly" chapter without even mentioning the two star attractions? I thought you'd been looking forward to seeing Lilly &amp; Clem in action together, but then you pretty much bypassed 'em completely. What's the matter, huh? Did I not live up to the hype on this occasion? :P

As for the story in general - nope. This is the end of the road, right here. I did say at the beginning that this was only a short story, didn't I? The only way that I _might _consider continuing this (which would be awkward to make work, at any rate, and would also constitute a rather large upheaval in my immediate plans) is if there was a ridiculous amount of support shown for the idea, which ... seems unlikely, given the apparent lack of interest in the last chapter. Seriously, Clementine dying received more coverage than Clementine actually surviving, for crying out loud. XD

Anyway, thanks for reviewing again, man.

* * *

**Soon**: Here I come again with the last of the three different outcomes to this story. I'm about to show you what happens if you choose not to make a decision, when it comes to which pair of characters you'd like to save from the dreaded drop.

This one will be slightly shorter than the last two were (I'm sure that you can probably guess why that might be), but will still be of decent enough length to merit its own chapter. Also, although it may seem like parts of this chapter are merely a cut and paste of the past two chapters, try not to get too discouraged and stop reading, won't you? Not only have such events been re-typed in full (with slightly different wording), but there are also gonna be some _big _differences later on in the chapter, so ... stick around if you wanna see some good, old-fashioned Lee Everetty goodness - Soonian style.

Also, look out for more crowd favourites, such as - Lilly "Murder Glare" Caul, Kenny Houdini, and the always popular Carley-on-the-rocks. ;P

And make sure that you read on after the end of the chapter too, as I'll be giving a thorough run-down of this story (and its "perilous" choices) after we're done here, which you ... might find makes for relatively interesting reading.

Right! Let's wrap this all up, shall we? I should probably warn you now, however - this is easily going to be the most depressing chapter that I've uploaded here to date. So, be ready for that, won't you?

* * *

**Outcome 3: No Decision**

He couldn't. He just couldn't choose. There was no time left to think, and yet an immediate decision was required. Lee had always been the indecisive sort, but now he found that his friends _lives _were in his hands. What could he do? If he went for Lilly and Clem first, then Kenny and Carley were screwed. And yet, if he went for Kenny and Carley instead, how on earth would he live with himself if something then happened to Clementine and Lilly, because of _his _decision?

Time was up. And so his choice was made for him.

"Lee!" Kenny yelled angrily. "What the hell are ya jus' standin' around for?! We ain't got time t'- F-Fuck!" He was cut off by his own panicked cursing, as the few remaining clumps of earth which Kenny had hold of broke clean away from the rest.

"Kenny!" he heard Carley cry out. "What's ha-"

Her voice died in her throat as Kenny plummeted, startled, from Lee's line of vision, with Carley no doubt following him. Lee took a few hurried steps towards them, unable to quite process what had just happened. He heard Kenny scream something, and then there was a series of crashing noises, signalling that what remained of the ledge (plus Kenny &amp; Carley themselves) had made contact with the jagged rocks below.

"LEE!" came Lilly's furious bark, cutting through Lee's state of disbelief like the sharpest of knives. "What the fuck are you-? ...Oh." Her tone had changed in an instant, anger and incredulity being replaced by shock and trepidation. "Oh, no…"

With the reality of his current situation returning to him in a flash, Lee spun around on the spot, and literally _sprinted _back across the ledge, his body screaming in protest, as he urged his tired muscles to use every last ounce of power they had left. He wouldn't allow this to happen. He couldn't allow his own foolish indecision to cost the lives of his last remaining friends and loved ones. He simply _had_ to save them.

And yet ... too little, too late.

The rock which Lilly had been clutching split clean in two, and she and Clementine both plummeted downwards with strangled cries of fright. Lee had arrived a split second too late, his momentum almost carrying _him _over the edge with them. And what he saw next made him wish that he _had _gone with them.

Both Lilly and Clementine were hurtling towards certain death, their bodies being tossed ruggedly around like rag-dolls, as gravity made mockeries of them both. He saw Lilly make a desperate dive towards the overhanging branch of a tree as she fell, and hope sprung up inside him. Lee flinched as she collided painfully with the first branch, unleashing a howl of pain into the night, but she succeeded in locking her arms around the second branch directly below it, and then hastily threw out an arm to try and catch Clementine, too.

It was impossible. They both knew it.

And so, they watched, as the young girl - the girl whose cheerful presence had meant _so much_ to their fractured group - dropped like a stone into a wishing well, her frail body flailing around madly, as she tried to find some non-existent object to help break her fall.

"_LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_"

With a series of sickening crashes and bangs, Clementine's tiny form disappeared into the treetops below - a fall which no one could have hoped to survive, least of all a small child.

Lilly drew her arm slowly back in, and then began the rather awkward task of clambering across the branch to safety, an effort which was clearly hampered by her freshly sustained injury. Lee watched her, almost absent-mindedly, as she drew her hands up, shakily, to cover her face, her entire body quaking like a leaf in the wind.

Lee couldn't believe this. He simply couldn't take it in. Clementine … was gone? It couldn't be. This had to be some kind of bad dream. It just _couldn't_ be real.

Before he had a chance to even gather his thoughts, a sudden movement from Lilly below him caught his attention once more. And the way that she looked at him then would have been enough to give even the hardest of men cause for concern. Her expression was as he had never seen it before - total rage; all contemptuous and vengeful, with not even the slightest slither of forgiveness or compassion present there. It was in that moment he knew, even with such distance between them, that this was more than mere anger. This was more than a heated debate about rations, or some petty quarrel over group politics. No... She wanted him dead.

And then they heard it - both of them did - the wailing moans of the dead - of countless mutilated souls - calling up to them from the landscape below.

The walkers were coming for them.

He saw Lilly's gaze dart about nervously, but then she doubled over suddenly, seemingly having finally remembered her own injured side. After a moment's pause to catch her breath, he saw her tear off a piece of her own tattered clothing to act as a make-shift bandage, and then place it firmly onto the wounded area. He couldn't tell how badly hurt she was from here, but he could see that she had at least taken the necessary measures to stem the bleeding. Whether these measures would be in any way sufficient, however, Lee genuinely had no idea.

If he had still required a reminder as to the status of their current relationship, then Lee received it but a moment later. Once again, Lilly cast her gaze upwards, and once again, he was left in no doubt as to how she now felt towards him. Her icy glare could well have frozen _fire_, and Lee would have not been the least bit surprised. There was no longer any caring there, no form of reassurance - only loathing and disgust. If they both made it through this alive, then she intended to make him pay for what he'd done tonight. That message carried up to him through the dusk just then, as crystal clear as the first light of dawn.

And then she was gone, setting off to begin her own personal task of negotiating a safe passage down the mountain-side. It wouldn't be easy for her to make it with such an injury, that was for sure … and Lee found that terrible thoughts came to him then. He shook them away with a frantic beat of his head. Now was not the time to dwell on such darkness…

Clementine was dead. That was the only real truth that had managed to penetrate the cloud of stunned disbelief which was now enveloping his entire being. The girl - the sweet, innocent girl who had brought so much joy and purpose to his life over the last few months - was gone forever.

He had done it. He had somehow managed to do it again. His own poor decisions - his own inability to cope with the stresses and pressures that had been placed upon him by the world - had led to him losing the one person that he had treasured above all others. And once again … it had been entirely his fault.

The faint cry of a walker suddenly caught his attention. He raised his sullen head, peering dispiritedly around at his immediate surroundings. Although he could really give less of a damn about anything at this stage, his turbulent mind had at least noted one thing from that torturous echo - this walker was closer than the others, by far.

To say that he was intrigued would have been tantamount to a lie. And yet, still his feet turned and carried him off in search of the creature that was issuing those dreadful sounds. Perhaps his body was just desperate for something to do - to keep itself moving, lest his vitals give out on him completely.

He found that his feet had soon carried him over to the northern side of the ledge … or what remained of it, at least. His brain seemed dull and sluggish just then, but something in the back of his mind was informing him that this was the spot where Kenny &amp; Carley had fallen to their apparent doom. Feeling that what he was about to witness couldn't possibly make the pain in his chest any worse, he slowly leaned out to look over the edge of the cliff.

He had been wrong. What he saw down there had _definitely _made him feel worse … if such a thing were even possible at that point.

Carley's body was on full display, almost directly below his line of vision. As expected, she had been killed by the fall - or rather, the impact against the rocks which had proceeded the fall. She had been impaled upon a sharp rock some fifty feet or more below the summit, and yet ... her body was not lifeless at all. She was still moving, and noises were still issuing from her throat. These were not the noises of a woman in pain, however. These were not the noises of a woman at all.

She had turned. Carley was one of them now. The undead - a walker.

He watched her quietly, his expression set in lines of grim misery, as she made her feeble attempts to free herself from the rock which held her prisoner. But she was too weak. There was no strength left in her muscles to free herself with. And yet, as Lee stared down at her - and her cold, lifeless eyes locked onto his - her efforts were suddenly redoubled; her body frantically twisting this way and that, squelching disgustingly, as her hands clawed fiercely in Lee's direction, scraping her finger nails against the rock in her eagerness to get to him. Just like the rest of them, he could now see it in her eyes - the hunger. She was desperate to feed.

Had Clementine also met such a fate? Would Lilly? … Would _he_?

Suddenly realising that he was missing someone, Lee tore his eyes away from the creature previously known as Carley, and began half-heartedly scanning the multitude ledges and ridges around hers. Although, in all honesty, the knowledge would come as little comfort to him at this stage, it was entirely possible that Kenny had managed to survive his fall, just as Lilly had ... though, he knew that it was perhaps equally likely that Kenny had merely fallen beyond his line of vision. It was getting very dark now, after all, and Kenny was certainly nowhere to be seen.

Was he dead? Had he grabbed hold of something on his way down, and then pulled himself to safety, just as Lilly herself had done? Had he perhaps already fled into the night?

Perhaps Lee would find out eventually … or perhaps not. Either way, he couldn't honestly say it mattered much to him anymore. For sure, he supposed there would be a small part of him that would rejoice upon seeing his friend alive and well again, but … it would have only served as the smallest of consolations at this stage, in truth - like discovering that the family picture had survived a house fire. A small pinprick of light in the endless darkness … and no more.

He was then dragged from his thoughts by yet another sudden groaning sound - this time altogether different to the spine-chilling rasps and moans that were being issued from Carley's dead body below. No, these were the sounds of a _living_ person.

Well, there was only one other person who could still be living atop this mountain now, he thought dully.

Wrenching himself away from the edge at last (before the urge to step over it overwhelmed him completely), Lee turned and traipsed back across the now unstable earth, towards this not-so-mysterious groaning noise. Sure enough, it was little more than ten seconds before he had arrived at the source: Ben. The teenager was still partially trapped beneath the carved stones which he, himself, had brought down upon them all. The low moans coming from the boy were quite faint, but he was still alive, for certain … and might even be nearing the point of regaining consciousness, from the look of things.

Lee stood there, gazing down on him, as the boy's semi-conscious body made a few half-hearted attempts to free itself, his legs jerking feebly. As he watched Ben's continued struggles, Lee's expression was a strange one indeed - an unstable mixture of pity and contempt. Which emotion was the truly dominant one, however, even Lee himself might have struggled to say.

Ben had played his part in this tragedy, there was no doubt about it. And while Lee could blame no one but himself for the death of young Clementine, it would also have been true to say that she and others would probably have never been placed into such peril, were it not for the foolish actions of the boy laying before him. And yet … that foolish boy may have been all that Lee had left in the world now. Clementine &amp; Carley were both dead, for sure. Kenny was who-the-fuck-knows where - quite possibly dead as well. And Lilly, while well and truly still among living when he had last laid eyes upon her, had given him the distinct impression that she had no intention of exchanging simple pleasantries when next their paths should cross.

While part of him would have quite gladly walked from this place alone, and left Ben to his solitary fate, Lee had to admit that setting off into the night by himself was not an appealing prospect, even for a mind as battered and broken as his currently was. Ben was an irrepressible fuck-up, it had to be said - one who had just needlessly cost Lee everything that he held dear … and yet, such a description could also well be labelled against Lee himself now. Perhaps they deserved each other after all. Or perhaps they both deserved to be punished for their foolishness, by being left to face this nightmare together.

Whatever he was going to do, Lee thought, he should probably do it now. Although no genuine fears still permeated Lee's heart at that moment, he knew that there was no point in waiting around here for the walkers to corner them both.

No. If death was to claim him on this night, then he would march into its jaws of his own free will. And he would go down fighting - tearing at the flesh of each and every undead bastard who dared to cross his path.

The only question was … would Ben be there beside him when the time came at last?

* * *

**Take Ben**

* * *

Lee's chest expanded momentarily as he drew breath, and then contracted again as he released it into the night time air. "Fuck me", he cursed to himself, as he bent down to begin the task of removing the larger rocks from around Ben's feet.

He just couldn't do it. Even after everything that he had lost - that _this boy _had cost him - he couldn't just leave him behind, to die here like a wounded animal in a bear trap. Was it genuine compassion for the boy that had driven him to this point? Or was he simply afraid of facing his oncoming death alone? Either way, Lee had made his decision … and he had tried to make a point of never going back on his word - although, he was well aware that such a vow had already been shattered beyond repair tonight.

Finally freeing him from the rocks that had him pinned in place, Lee shifted the boy clumsily out from where he lay, and then flung one of Ben's long arms haphazardly over his own shoulders.

"Come on, kid", Lee murmured heavily, as he began the slow process of hauling the lanky boy towards their only known escape route. "Let's go get killed."

Tossing Ben's body down to the next level with the flippancy of a man who was now past the point of caring, Lee then hopped down after him, with an altogether new feeling gradually starting to bloom out of the toxic smog that was currently filling his soul - suffocating him. Although Lee was still fully prepared for either one of them to die in the upcoming struggle, it stuck him that carrying Ben's weight seemed to have somehow evened out the scales a little in his mind. It had given him some small crumb of comfort - the delusion that he once again had something to protect.

And that lie was more than OK with Lee right now. He needed it. He needed that purpose to survive.

Whatever would be would be. It was entirely possible (and altogether probable) that painful death awaited them both below. But now, at least Lee had given himself a reason to resist - a reason to go on living. Lee thought of Kenny, conspicuous by his absence. He thought of Lilly, and the murderous intent that had been born from his purported betrayal. He thought of Carley, possibly trapped to rot upon a rock for all eternity. And then he thought of Clementine … his sweet pea … killed by his own desire to protect them all from harm.

None of that mattered to him right now. It couldn't. It was all just a meaningless distraction.

The only thing that mattered now was the limp boy draped across his shoulders. Whether the pair of them made it through this or not, Lee had vowed to himself, one last time, that he was going to do this right. That he was going to go down as he had always intended - fighting to protect those who could no longer protect themselves.

One jaded man and an unconscious boy against an approaching army of the undead. Lee knew fully well that these were not odds that he could hope to overcome alone. And yet, despite this harsh reality, only one thought continued to cross Lee's mind, as he and Ben made their gradual way down the mountainside...

Bring it on.

* * *

**Leave Ben**

* * *

Lee's chest expanded momentarily as he drew breath, and then contracted again as he released it into the night time air. "Sorry, kid", he mumbled heavily, his expression still completely despondent. "I've gotta go."

He ran his right hand wearily through his hair again, releasing a small sigh as he did so. He didn't really have the capacity to feel any more guilt and remorse than he already was - he was full to the brim with such feelings already. Even so, he felt no joy about having to leave Ben like this … despite a small voice in the back of his mind persistently telling him that Ben deserved this … that he was to blame … that he had brought this on himself. Whether or not these voices spoke the truth, Lee wasn't sure. The only thing that he was certain of was that he could not afford to take Ben with him. He had no will or desire left for such a mammoth challenge, which keeping the unconscious boy alive long-term would most certainly have become.

"This is goodbye."

He steeled himself for the task, and then turned to leave - after all, abandoning someone to die in the wilderness was not something which came naturally to the man. He didn't get more than a few feet away before his own muddled thoughts caught up with him again, however. He glanced back at Ben - still lying there, in amongst the dirt and the rubble, unconscious … helpless.

"This isn't personal, kid, I promise you", Lee uttered quietly to the boy after several further seconds of thought, for all the world as though Ben were able to hear him. "Chances are we're both gonna wind up dead, either way." He shook his head. "You're better off on your own, trust me. I couldn't protect a damn thing anyway, even if my life depended on it…"

Thoughts of all of his friends came swarming to his mind just then…

Carley, touching his face with an affectionate smile; Carley, sobbing for her life as she hung, helpless, over the edge of a cliff; Carley, now a reanimated corpse, impaled upon a rock, hungry for his flesh.

Kenny, bumping fists with his "pal", smiling in confidence that their friendship would last the distance; Kenny, desperately clinging to the crumbling ledge with merely his elbows, his terrified eyes seeking out Lee's, pleading for his help; Kenny, now missing and presumably dead, and certain not to be pleased with him, were they ever to meet again in the land of the living.

Lilly, flashing him the smallest of smiles, as she stalked off to protect Clementine in his stead; Lilly, digging every available limb that she had into the fractured rock face, holding on for dear life, as she demanded him to take action that would never come; Lilly, broken and wounded, now glaring up at the man who she once considered her closest ally, her expression mirroring something straight from a nightmare.

And Clementine… It was just too painful to think about. As soon as her warm smile permeated his thoughts, he balked, trying desperately to block her out. Her inquisitive nature, her (at times) startling intellect, her playful trickery, and the immense kindness and compassion with which she had lived - all of it, gone in a flash ... and all because of him. Lee couldn't bear it. He couldn't bear to live with the sadness or the guilt that was tearing at his insides any longer. He needed it to be over. He just … wanted it all to end.

To give his flailing mind some sense of clarity, he once again found himself glancing back to the boy behind him - the one person who he hadn't yet managed to either maim or kill on this night. He wasn't about to give himself the chance to lose someone else. True, Ben would probably die anyway - and if so, then so be it, but … he couldn't find himself on the scene of yet another tragedy tonight. He couldn't face what was about to happen to the boy. He didn't want to witness anymore death. And if that made him weak? … Then so be it.

Company was not what he needed right now. If death was coming for him, then Lee needed to face it alone. And maybe then he would also come face-to-face with the harm that he had truly caused ... and all of the mistakes that he could no longer take back. He could now fully understand what it felt like to be Ben, Lee realised with a humourless smile. How ironic that, at the exact moment when he was coming out in sympathy with the boy at last, he was also choosing to leave him behind...

"…I'll try an' draw somma them away from here", Lee whispered to his stricken companion. "That should at least give you a decent shot at making it."

Then, finally, Lee's body started to move of his own volition once again, carrying him steadily off towards the gap in the rocks which was to serve as his escape from this infernal place. "Who knows?" he called back to Ben's still motionless form, though without stopping this time. "Maybe they'll get their fill from feastin' on me, and you'll be able to slip by them unnoticed!"

The sheer thought of it almost brought forth a laugh from his throat. Now, wouldn't that be ironic? Ben Paul - the last man standing.

He paused as he reached the drop-down point, attempting to scan the vast terrain below, but it was now far too dark to see anything of note. All he knew for sure was that there were walkers down there. A _lot _of them. More than one man could ever handle, even if he had an entire arsenal of weapons at his back.

Well, Lee thought…

Fuck it.

Pulling out his gun from the back of his jeans, he hopped down to the next level with a fearless abandon now filling his soul. He took one last look back at Ben - who was now stirring feebly again - and said hoarsely, "Good luck, kid. And if not, well … I'll probably see you soon, anyway. On the other side…"

And with those parting words uttered, he was off - making his way purposefully down the mountain-side, with little regard for the safety of his own footing.

Would he make it? He doubted it, honestly.

Was Kenny still alive? And if he was, would he ever see him again? Unlikely, he thought, on both counts.

And he hadn't entirely forgotten about Lilly, either, who had definitely still been drawing breath when last he saw her. Her injury was bound to slow her down, but he knew it was not beyond the realms of possibility that she could make it. She was a tough woman. As tough as they come, in truth. And if he were to meet with her again now, how exactly would that meeting go? Would words be exchanged? Or did she have a bullet waiting for him, with _his _name on it? Either way, he wasn't too concerned about it. In times past, he might have been … but that would have been when he still had something left to lose. He no longer feared death. And if Lilly's gun found its way to his forehead before the walkers got hold of him, then he knew exactly what he was going to say to her before she pulled the trigger. Only two words - "I'm sorry."

First things first, however. He had to make it through the teeming horde of corpses that were after his blood, before he'd have the chance to potentially face Lilly's wrath as well. One way or another, he wasn't going to make it through the night - be it the damn walkers or sheer human contempt, his death was almost certainly assured.

But he wasn't going down alone. He was going to take every last undead piece of shit who dared to stand in his way with him, even if he had to beat their rotting brains in with his bare hands. Eventually he would tire, and eventually they would claim him, but … he would at least leave a trail of bodies in his wake - a scene of _pure carnage_ that could be seen for miles around, if he had his way.

He could not bring Clementine back now, he knew that.

But before the night was done, this cruel fucking world was going to _feel _her loss, through him. And of that ... he was certain.

* * *

**Soon:** Well, well, well. There you have it, folks. That was the third outcome (and final chapter) of this short-story, "A Perilous Choice". Rather depressing, wasn't it? But before you all lynch me for writing something so dark and brooding, let me at least say that this chapter allowed me to explore an entirely new aspect of Lee's character - a hopelessness so vast and complete that it threatened to consume everything that he was and is. And that alone, I would say, made this additional choice worth the effort, wouldn't you agree?

Now, let's have a final set of Skits to cheer you all up, shall we? Then we can finally move on to my closing thoughts and sentiments about this story. Just as in the previous two parts, I'll be giving you a double this time. Enjoy...

* * *

**Skit 7 (No singing!)**

**Lee**: "I'm all alone, there's no one here beside~ me!"

**Lee**: "My problems have all gone, there's no one to deride~ me!"

**Lee**: "But you've gotta have _friends~_"

**Lilly**: "BLAP!" *shoots Lee in his left arm*

**Lee**: "A-ARGH! Wh-What-? … Lilly?!"

**Lilly**: "You asked for that, asshole!"

**Lee**: "L-Look, I'm sorry about before, alright? I dunno what came over me. I just ... sorta ... froze up, an' then-"

**Lilly**: "Oh, I didn't shoot you because of _that_. I shot you because I couldn't stand your damn singing!"

**Lee**: "…And that's a good enough reason to shoot someone these days?"

**Lilly**: "Yup."

**Lee**: "…Man, I can't believe I'm stuck with only _you _for company."

**Lilly**: "Yeah? Well, whose fault is that, I wonder?"

**Ben**: "H-Hey, I'm still alive, right? At least you've still got me, Lee." :]

**Lee**: "…Yeah, that's, er … great, Ben-"

**Lilly**: "BLAP!" *shoots Ben in the face*

**Lee**: "Wh-What the fuck was _that_ for?! He wasn't even singing!" D:

**Lilly**: "Hmm? … Oh, I just didn't like his face."

**Lee**: "…An' I suppose _that's _a good enough reason to shoot someone, too?"

**Lilly**: "Yup."

**Lee**: "...How did you recover from your wounds so quickly, anyway? I thought you were badly hurt..."

**Lilly**: "Well, I found some green herbs on my way down the mountain side, so..."

**Lee: **"You just _ate _them?"

**Lilly**: "Yeah. My friend Jill told me about their healing properties. They're perfectly safe to eat."

**Lee: **"...Was that a Resident Evil reference?"

**Lilly**: "Yup."

**Colonel Beaverford of the Eastern Locke**: "There she is! That's the traitorous wench who _murdered_ our Lord Squirrelton in cold blood! Seize her, comrades! Strike her down, if you must! Her _and _her male accomplice!"

*a stampede of wildlife charges forth from the trees*

**Lilly**: "Hmph." … *raises rifle* … "BLA-" … "Uh-oh."

**Lee**: "What's the matter? Shoot 'em already!"

**Lilly**: "I can't. I'm, uh … out of ammo."

**Lee**: "WHAT?! Well, wha - what are we gonna do?! I can't shoot accurately with only one working arm!"

**Lilly**: "Hmm... Time for a tactical retreat, I think."

**Lee**: "…Wait, you don't mean-?"

**Lilly**: "Race you to the love shack~!" *tears off into the trees*

**Lee**: "Lilly?! Hey, wait up! I'm - I'm fuckin' _shot _here! Lilly!"

**Lilly**: "It's every man for himself, Lee! Sorry!"

**Lee**: "...Yeah, but you ain't a man! So get_ back _here!"

**Colonel Beaverford**: "Get the bastard! Tear him asunder!"

*a horde of forest critters pounces on Lee*

**Lee**: "AGH! N-No, wait! It was _her_, not me! She's the one you-! OW! L-Lilly! _Somebody_! HELP!"

**Kenny**: *from high above him* "I'd love to help ya, pal, but I can't really seem to control my super-awesome floatin' powers just yet! It looks like I'm on mah way to the moon or somethin' at the minute! … Oh, wait, that's kinda bad, isn't it? … Sh-Shit!"

**Fairy-Clementine**: "Don't worry, Kenny! I'll save you~!" *whizzes up to help him*

**Walker-Carley**: *strangled groaning noises*

[Official Translation, as written by Ms. L. Caul]: "How come I'm the only one who doesn't get some bullshit, Deus Ex Machina revival during these things, huh?!"

**Lee**: "I AM SO _DONE_ WITH THESE MOTHER FUCKIN' SKITS!"

* * *

**Skit 8 (Closing Thoughts)**

**Soon**: "Well, that's that, guys. How're you feeling now, having watched that all unfold from the sidelines?"

**Katjaa**: "My goodness, that was just _awful_. So much sadness and death, and … oh, I _do _hope that Kenny's alright."

**Larry**: "What in the name of sweet _FUCK_ was that all about?!"

**Mark**: "…Yeah. Wow. That last chapter there kinda got to me a little bit, not gonna lie. If only we'd been there with them, we might've been able to help…"

**Soon**: "Mmm. But that wouldn't have made for a very compelling story now, would it?"

**Mark**: "…Wait, what?"

**Soon**: "Uh, n-nothing! Anyway, uh … what - what do you guys think you'd have done with Ben? If you'd been there, I mean?"

**Mark**: "I'd have taken him with me, of course. I mean, who in their right minds would abandon a _kid_ in the middle of-"

**Larry**: "I'd have left his ass there to _rot_!"

**Katjaa**: "…I don't know. It would have been a difficult decision, either way. There are just so many different variables to consider. If I'd had one of the children with me, then … I may not have had any _choice_ but to leave him."

**Mark**: "Seriously? … _Damn_, you guys are cold."

**Duck**: "I'd have put Ben in a modified, high-tech, walker-proof suit of armour, and then gone to look for help!" :D

**Ben**: "…I'm OK with that outcome, honestly."

**Soon**: "Ah, here comes the main cast themselves! How ya doin', guys?"

**Lee**: "That ... took a lot outta me."

**Mark**: "You okay there, Lee? You're lookin' a little pale, man."

**Lee**: "Y-Yeah, I'm fine."

**Larry**: "Nice death glare, sweetheart. Top quality work right there."

**Lilly**: "Thanks, dad." ^_^

**Lee**: "Tell me about it. I'm gonna be havin' nightmares for a _month _after that."

**Lilly**: "Well, I was practising in front of the mirror for several days, trying to get it_ just_ right. I knew that I'd finally found the perfect one when I ran and hid in fright of myself."

**Kenny**: "…Wait, you scared _yerself_?"

**Lilly**: "Yup. I'm literally _that _hardcore."

**Duck**: "Dad!"

**Katjaa**: "Kenny! Are you hurt?!"

**Kenny**: "Naw. I jus' did my little disappearin' act, is all. _Boy_, were those guys shocked! I betcha didn't know that I could just up and vanish int'a thin air like that, huh?"

**Lee**: "But … how?"

**Kenny**: "With this awesome lookin' ring that I found the other day."

**Clementine**: "Wow! Can I see it?"

**Kenny**: "_No!_ _Nobody touches the Precious but me!_"

**Clementine**: "Oh … O-Okay." O_O

**Duck**: "You should'a seen it when you fell, Clementine. It was _so _cool! Just like when Mufasa died in The Lion King! And Lee must have been playing Simba, 'cause he was all like - '_NOOOOOOOOOOO~!' _\- and then Lilly was all like - "_Lee, what have you done?" _\- an' then Lee was all like-"

**Clementine**: "…Gee, thanks, Duck." -_-

**Soon**: "_Aaaaaaaand _that's all we have time for today. Until next time, guys!"

**Lee**: "Wait. What about Carley? Where is she?"

**Soon**: "...Oh, yeah. Oops."

**Walker-Carley**: *aggravated rasping noises*

[Official Translation]: "Will someone come and get me off of this _fucking rock _already?!"

* * *

**Soon**: Hehe. Poor Carley. I was so mean to her in this story...

Ah, well. She'll be back in future stories and updates (as will many of the others), don't you worry. Now, let's finish this off with some final musings about the story as a whole...

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* So, first of all - what was the point of this story, you may ask? Well, the point was, ultimately, about testing your devotion to Clementine's character.

You see, my goal here was to give you all a difficult choice - to either sacrifice two fan-favourite characters and assure Clementine's safety for certain, or try to save everyone and run the risk of losing Clem in the process. As we've seen by the limited number of results so far (as of typing, at least), this test has to be considered something of a failure, sadly, as barely any of you were willing to risk Clementine's safety for the good of the others.

Honestly, I probably could have balanced the choice a little better. I was planning to tweak things slightly prior to posting - mostly just to prevent the rock that Lilly was clutching from cracking until _after _the choice had already been made - but I simply couldn't be bothered in the end (most of this material was typed up many months ago now, after all). And it cost me too, as the current version of this choice was nowhere _close _to being well-balanced, unfortunately.

Still, at least we've got our answer now, right? You guys aren't willing to risk Clementine's safety for _anyone_, even two of the most popular characters from the first season of the game.

* And that brings me nicely onto why I selected the characters that I did for this choice.

Clementine was obviously the basis for writing the whole thing (kind of like the main game, in that regard), so I needed some greatly beloved characters to compete against Clem's immense popularity, for the purpose of balancing out the final decision a little bit.

Carley was the most obvious choice, as she was actually rated as the third most popular character from season 1 (after Clementine &amp; Lee) in an official poll that Telltale staged shortly after the end of the game. However, I knew that Carley alone (while ridiculously popular in her own right) would not have been enough to sway you all away from Clementine, so I needed to add some additional weight to the opposite side. And that's where Kenny came into the picture.

Now, although Kenny's popularity among the greater fan-base has always been quite divided (particularly now, after the passing of season 2), he is still comfortably one of the most beloved characters to have been produced from the game so far. And just to hammer home this point, I even recently saw a poll (containing several hundred votes) where Kenny had ranked as the second most popular character in the entire game franchise (with Clementine obviously coming out on top), placing even ahead of _Lee _on that occasion. So, although Kenny has amassed his fair share of haters over the course of his time in the game, it's also fair to say that there are still a large number of people out there who love him more than any other character. So, he was clearly the optimal choice when it came to a secondary character to complement Carley's presence, and thus compete against Clementine for your affections.

But even that wasn't enough. I needed to even the scales a little more, and so I decided to add an additional character to Clementine's side, rather than bloating the opposing side any further. And yet, I couldn't really afford to add a _popular _character to Clementine's side (as that would have only made you all that much more desperate to save them both), so I instead cast my eyes around for an influential character who might instead drive you _away _from choosing Clementine ... and the character who my eyes fell upon was Lilly. Now, this tactic would probably have worked much better several years ago (when season 1 was still fresh in the mind), because Lilly's popularity has strangely _grown _since her departure from the game. Two years ago you were often looked at like a weirdo if you even dared to _suggest_ that Lilly was anything other than a murderous bitch, whereas now you can not only get away with openly admitting to being fond of her, but will also be likely to hear a number of voices calling out in agreement as well. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, I guess? Hehe.

In any case, Lilly is still a much-hated character (despite her steadily growing fan-base), and so I felt that she could still prove to be useful for the purpose of this story. Because, if there was someone on Clementine's side of the divide who the readers _didn't _particularly want to save, then that would only make the option of saving Carley &amp; Kenny look all the more appealing, you see? After all, there's a fair portion of fans who would probably quite happily see Lilly thrown over the side of a cliff.

I deliberately played to this as well, since I wanted to make Lilly seem to have a slightly negative influence on the group, particularly during chapter 1 (which of course was used to set the general tone for the upcoming story).

Ben was pretty much thrown in as an afterthought just for the hell of it, to be honest. I figured that having him get involved in events could not only help to spice things up a little, but could also grant the reader the chance to make a further choice after the dust had settled, which would then allow for your individual ending to be a little bit more personalised, y'know?

It's also worth pointing out that I tried to balance things from a survival point-of-view as well. I knew that some people out there would look at it and say - "Two armed adults on one side, one armed adult and a child on the other side, no contest." - so I purposefully disarmed Carley directly before the choice was made. After all, although Carley is fairly deadly with a gun in hand, she immediately becomes rather helpless as soon as you take away her weapon, which would have greatly helped to balance out the "power scales" of the choice. I mean, sure, Carley eventually ended up with a gun anyway, if you choose to save her (at the expense of Lee losing his weapon, mind you), but you weren't to know that heading into the choice now, were you?

Of course, looking back on it now, such an alteration was completely meaningless, as all it did was help to cement the choice even further in Clem &amp; Lilly's favour. Plus, when you've already got Lilly (arguably the most capable survivor in the group) on Clem's side of the fence, carrying the group's most powerful weapon (in the rifle), no less ... yeah, I don't really think that such matters needed to be tampered with at all.

As it was, the choice didn't end up being particularly balanced (with the scales still being firmly tipped in Clementine's favour), but I genuinely believe that the initial _concept _of this choice was fairly solid ... it was only the execution that let me down, unfortunately.

Just quickly on the "survival" front, however - perhaps it has escaped the attention of some of you that there are actually more (confirmed) survivors when you allow Clementine to die? So ... if your goal was strictly to preserve as much life as possible, then maybe saving Carley &amp; Kenny could be considered the more prudent choice, no? Although, this of course assumes that you're going to take Ben along with you as well ... and, given the circumstances of her departure, you may not exactly consider Lilly surviving to be an entirely good thing, but ... even so. Life is still life, y'know?

Maybe you're one of these people who prefers a functional, working group over sentimentality, in which case I can see why Kenny &amp; Carley might be the more appealing option. After all, you've got your loyal "wing-man" in Kenny (assuming that you keep siding with him, of course), as well as a ready-made love interest in Carley. True, you could _potentially _consider Lilly to be a love interest as well (on top of being a capable partner), but ... eh, Lee would have to really put the effort in if he wanted to make that work. Lilly isn't like Carley - she's not just going to willingly fall into Lee's lap at the first request. He'd have to be quite persistently charming ... or perhaps charmingly persistent, haha!

In the end, I suppose it really comes down to how much Clementine's life really means to you, personally. Are you willing to let her go to try and preserve a larger portion of the group? For most people, it would seem that the answer to that question is quite clearly an adamant "no".

* My second goal for this story was to explore Lee's possible reaction to _losing_ Clementine, which means that I naturally needed to have her die if (or when) some of the readers opted to save the others instead. I could so easily have gone the opposite way, of course, and had Clementine survive either way (which would have obviously resulted in everyone who chose to _save _Clem letting Kenny &amp; Carley to die for nothing), but that just didn't appeal to me as much, from a writing perspective.

I mean, yes, it would have been an extraordinary mind-fuck to try and trick the vast majority of you into letting Kenny &amp; Carley die like that, but ... I dunno. It just wouldn't have been as dramatic for me, and seeing the surprise and regret from all of you would not have fully compensated for the loss of that additional tension and drama, I don't think. I certainly like the way that the current version turned out better, at least in that regard...

That's just my personal opinion on the matter, however. Besides, seeing as in most of you have so far been electing to save Clementine anyway, I suppose that you should all be quite _pleased _that I chose to do things this way, as otherwise you'd have all more than likely ended up regretting your decision, wouldn't you? :3

* Now, let's have a round up of what actually went down in this fic, shall we? You can finish off this story with a total of _six _different group compositions. You can have...

**Group 1**: Lee. This occurs if you choose to make no decision during the main choice, and then elect to leave Ben behind during the following outcome chapter. Clementine and Carley are both dead in this version of events, while Kenny is missing (possibly dead), and Ben has been left to his own fate. Lilly is also quite possibly still alive, and so this version of Lee may potentially be faced with a solo confrontation at a later date. An epic showdown, of sorts! ... Hmm. I kinda wanna write that now. As this Lee has pretty much already accepted death, however, it probably wouldn't be much of a fight, sadly.

**Group 2: **Lee &amp; Ben. This also occurs if you again make no decision, but then elect to take Ben with you instead. All of the above fates are still intact, except that you've now got an unconscious Ben to protect as well ... on top of having both Lilly (seemingly) and the walkers now out for your blood. So... Good luck to anyone who chose these two options, is what I'd say. Hahaha! I wouldn't rate their chances of survival very highly _at all_.

**Group 3**: Lee, Kenny &amp; Carley. This happens if you choose to help Kenny during the main choice, and then leave Ben behind during the follow-up choice. The two aforementioned characters are still alive and well, with Kenny still completely on side (Team Kenneh), but Carley not being best pleased with you. Clementine is dead, but Lilly is still on the prowl somewhere, and apparently out for vengeance. Their chances of surviving the walkers are fairly high here, I would say ... it's only really Lilly they'd have to worry about. You gotta be careful that she doesn't head-shot you from off screen ... 'cause she's a sneaky-sneak like that. Hehe.

**Group 4: **Lee, Lilly &amp; Clementine. This is what happens if you choose to help Lilly during the main choice, and then leave Ben behind afterwards (you might call this one the choice for "Lilly Purists", haha). You've built up a pretty strong bond with Lilly in this outcome, but may have slightly damaged your relationship with Clementine in the process. Carley has died and reanimated, while Kenny is once again nowhere to be found. I'd say that this group has a pretty strong chance of surviving. Both Lee &amp; Lilly (two highly capable individuals) are set on protecting Clementine, and both are also armed and ready for combat.

**Group 5: **Lee, Kenny, Carley &amp; Ben. The first of the "four-man cells", haha! You can get this outcome by electing first to help Kenny escape from the cliff, and then choosing to take Ben along with you afterwards. Your bond with Carley is still strong here, while Kenny is feeling a little miffed. Lilly and Clementine's fates are the same as in Groups 1-3. The addition of an unconscious Ben has now made survival that bit harder for the group, but I would still say that these three _should _have enough man power to push their way through. After all, you've still got two armed adults on hand, should things go bad.

**Group 6: **Lee, Lilly, Clementine &amp; Ben. I'm thinking that this is probably the most popular outcome overall (although, I can't be certain, as a lot of the people who originally voted didn't follow up their votes for the "Ben choice"). You achieve this through opting to help Lilly at the summit and then taking Ben along during the following chapter. Clementine seems to be delighted with your decision, while your relationship with Lilly is slightly tenser than it was for the opposite outcome with Ben. Kenny &amp; Carley's fates are identical to the ones they have for Groups 1, 2 &amp; 4\. I would say that the chances of this group's survival are ... kinda dodgy, honestly. Unlike with the opposite group, there are no longer two adults left to fend off the advancing walkers, as Lee has now been partially incapacitated by the unconscious Ben. I would stop short of saying they're completely fucked (having Lilly on side is a massive advantage, and Lee certainly wouldn't go down easy), but ... it's going to far more difficult for them all now, put it that way.

So, which of those six groups have you ended up with? And are you happy with your decisions? Do you get the impression that your team of survivors is going to make it through the horde and reach safety at last? Or are they all walker chow? Hahaha!

And how about the vast number of loose ends left in the story? How long do you think that Ben would make it if left to his own devices atop the plateau? A day? An hour? ... Ten minutes? Hehe.

And then there's Kenny's mysterious disappearance as well. Do you think that he managed to survive? Did he die? ... Or will he merely resurface in a couple of years' time, sporting an epic beard and saying that he "got lucky" ... "real lucky". ;P

And let's not forget about the now-vengeful Lilly, either. Can she be talked around, do you think? Will she even _survive_ her injuries? Could she bleed out? Or get cornered by walkers? ... Or perhaps she could simply come back and shoot you in the face when you least expect it, haha! I mean, who knows, right? I was certainly trying to abide by the impression given in the game for this story - which is that Lilly can be either a powerful ally, or an extremely dangerous enemy, depending on your actions towards her.

Share your thoughts about this story with me, guys, as I'm deeply curious to know how you all interpreted these various events and outcomes. If this story receives a positive enough reception, then I'll consider posting more choice-based short stories in the future ... or perhaps I'll even consider making a sequel to this one, if that's what you all would like to happen. :)

Either way, I need support to make this happen. If you don't tell me your thoughts on this, then I'm just going to assume that no one is interested and leave this concept to gather dust. If you genuinely enjoyed this story and would like to see more, then be sure to let me know about it, yeah?

* * *

**Soon: **And that was the conclusion to this fan-fiction. It's been a pretty manic five days, trying to get all of this story uploaded on time, but hopefully it was worth the effort. Some of you seemed to enjoy it at least, and hopefully others will in the future as well. It's not going anywhere, after all.

In regards to my current plans, well ... My intention is to go back to my original story, "Salvation Lost", and upload the second installment of that rather lengthy adventure here next. I'm already in the process of re-typing the next chapter, so it should be on its way at some point in the near future.

If you enjoyed this story, but haven't yet read my other one, then feel free to go and check it out at some point. It may be a little on the sluggish side to begin with, but I can guarantee you that it will eventually surpass anything and everything that you've seen so far in this story. Creating genuine drama and lasting character relationships is so much easier when you give yourself the necessary time to build things up from the base, y'know?

I'm hoping to try and upload something new here on a monthly basis (doing so in rapid spurts, as I have done with my first two entries), but that honestly might prove difficult to maintain, long-term ... I've got a lot going on right now (both online and off), and so writing new material is pretty far down on my priority list at the moment. If you're eager to see more of Salvation Lost (or just me as an author in general) then the best thing that you can do is go and show support for that story. As I've said above, letting me know that I'm entertaining you is by far the best way to motivate me to continue with this, as I've now burned through all of the material that I had pre-typed on my computer. Those handful of extra reviews can sometimes make all the difference, trust me.

Anyway, hopefully you all enjoyed this little jaunt into the horrific world of The Walking Dead. I'll be back again soon, I promise ... although, quite how soon may partially depend on all of you, I suppose. Remember to give me your thoughts about the story as a whole, won't you?

And I'll see you all next time, guys. ;)


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